An English Poppy Field

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Gongster

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I'm not certain this works, not enough pzazz, what do you think?
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It works for me. I like how the sun lines up with the group of poppies in the middle. I like the back lit poppies and the way you have maintained the colour. My only suggestion - brighten up the poppies directly below the back lit poppies in the Center so that they are brighter than the dark poppies on the side. It is a lovely photo with great colour.
 
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I'm hesitant to even say this, but something that might be worth looking at is a crop. I feel the pzazz of the picture is bright poppies in bright sunshine. Rather than trying to add pzazz, remove things that don't have as much pzazz. This would be the dark poppies on both sides and some of the dark shade in the foreground and even a bit of the dark clouds in the very top of the picture. You could try adjusting the crop in order to lessen or remove some of these elements. I think the focus of the foreground is the bright poppies in the middle, for the mid-ground it's the bright poppies in the distance, and finally the sun in the background. Just a suggestion of something to investigate.
 
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I like the fact that you got down low to take this shot. Up close works well for me in this shot. Was this a hyperfocal type shot, or just close and small f-stop used? Very nice.
 
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Cropped 5058.jpg
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Charlie Lasswell said:
I'm hesitant to even say this, but something that might be worth looking at is a crop. I feel the pzazz of the picture is bright poppies in bright sunshine. Rather than trying to add pzazz, remove things that don't have as much pzazz. This would be the dark poppies on both sides and some of the dark shade in the foreground and even a bit of the dark clouds in the very top of the picture. You could try adjusting the crop in order to lessen or remove some of these elements. I think the focus of the foreground is the bright poppies in the middle, for the mid-ground it's the bright poppies in the distance, and finally the sun in the background. Just a suggestion of something to investigate.
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Charlie, I've cropped as you suggested (I think!) For better or worse?
 
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Dave Wo said:
I like the fact that you got down low to take this shot. Up close works well for me in this shot. Was this a hyperfocal type shot, or just close and small f-stop used? Very nice.
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Dave, I used an aperture of f13 in order to give me depth of field.
 
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Gongster said:
Charlie, I've cropped as you suggested (I think!) For better or worse?
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It's hard to say. I think the cropped version has a stronger subject, but it does sacrifice the vastness of the field. I guess it comes down to which ambiance you prefer. I think my personal preference is the cropped version. What do think?
 
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Gongster said:
've cropped as you suggested (I think!) For better or worse?
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The crop works nicely as an image that really emphasizes the foreground poppies and the sun burst. I think getting rid of the real close foreground helped. I like that a lot more than the original.

But I think cropping out that big arcing cloud bank was a shame. I wonder if there's another interpretation with something like a 16x9 our 16x10 aspect ratio that clips the real close stalks but keeps most of the sky?
 
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Gongster said:
Without wishing to get boring or to labour the point, here is my final crop.
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Not even close to boring, all three of these were very workable images. I personally like that final crop because the clouds formed a real natural frame to the image, sort of nature's vignette to contain everything and emphasize the main focal points (big poppy and sun).

Just my 2 pesos, but I really like the final crop. I might have tried to cut that out of focus slanting stalk at the very bottom of the image out, but now I'm really nitpicking ;)

Great image and well seen!
 
I kinda like the original best. That's just me though, I will take what I think is a great photo, finish it and share it in my web spaces only to have it ignored. Then I will share a photo that I don't even like and it will get praise. It's weird sometimes. lol
Edit- I think after looking at your lovely poppy field, spending time in the field composing this shot on camera would be good.I'm not sure what but I want that tallest poppy to be in the 1/3. Maybe even a vertical shot up close along with a wide horizontal. You probably have a few already though. I think it looks very nice but since we are talking. . .
 
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It’s a wonderful image well shot. The first image is to me very calm and peaceful....a lovely summer’s morning. The cropped version is much more dramatic and ” in your face”. It is interesting how different crops of the same shot can evoke different feelings.
 
Gongster said:
Ha ha, thanks Hut, that's the beauty of photography and forums like this..........I just end up getting more and more confused!;)
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Glad I could help... :D
I really like the original though.
 
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