Is this picture interesting ....

[jeffnles1]

Jeff,

Honestly, I tend to agree, I have lots of "dragonfly on a stick" pictures .. I take a lot of them this time of year when I find the birding a bit lacking ... but lots of dragonflies out there! I specifically asked about the original image because I thought the background was more interesting than usual and wondered if there was a somewhat more intriguing image lurking. But perhaps not. I also have a couple of dragonfly in flight pictures - I posted one - and they are obviously a lot more dynamic. And a few Halloween pennants on a stick against green backgrounds which look kinda nice colorwise. Good point about shots where they are tilting their heads, I should go back and see if I have anything like that. Sometimes head-on shots are more interesting (and I'm not that wedded to this one either, just an example ...):

View attachment 68940

I actually have a somewhat unusual photo of a dragonfly being consumed by a small spider I should post ...

I love the dragons and have hundreds maybe over a thousand photos of them in my library. Most are on sticks or cattail leaves. They are so pretty and intriguing that I shoot the photo even though I may have a couple dozen of the same species in the same pose. As for interesting, well, not really but beautiful is a different question.

By the way, I like your head on shot above. The curve of the grass seed head leads my eye to the dragon and the otherworldly face is interesting. The blue dashers are indeed pretty creatures.

I would love to see the spider and dragon photo.

 

[MrFotoFool]

Lighting is great. As a standalone photo (eg something you would hang as is), there is too much dead space. However, for editorial use this would be great because you could place text on the background. I could see it as a two page magazine spread with the dragonfly on right page and article title on left page, with written article on both pages (going around the dragonfly). Or as a poster if you want to superimpose an inspirational quote.

 

[PhotoLover]

I love the dragons and have hundreds maybe over a thousand photos of them in my library. Most are on sticks or cattail leaves. They are so pretty and intriguing that I shoot the photo even though I may have a couple dozen of the same species in the same pose. As for interesting, well, not really but beautiful is a different question.

By the way, I like your head on shot above. The curve of the grass seed head leads my eye to the dragon and the otherworldly face is interesting. The blue dashers are indeed pretty creatures.

I would love to see the spider and dragon photo.

Thanks. Yes, dragonflies are pretty cool looking and I take too many pictures of them!

The head on shot is a little less common. Also, that was shot with a 600 equivalent lens at about 5.5 feet, the other was shot with a 750 equivalent lens at about 11 feet. So more pixels on the actual critter with the closer shot. And though I can't actually remember taking either specific picture I know where both were taken, and I probably had stronger light on the close shot, which is one of the reasons, along with being closer, you can pick up the detail in the eyes better.

I'll post the last day of the dragonfly in the presentation section. It's not an awesomely pretty shot, but it's okay and definitely a bit unusual.

 

[PhotoLover]

Lighting is great. As a standalone photo (eg something you would hang as is), there is too much dead space. However, for editorial use this would be great because you could place text on the background. I could see it as a two page magazine spread with the dragonfly on right page and article title on left page, with written article on both pages (going around the dragonfly). Or as a poster if you want to superimpose an inspirational quote.

Interesting take on that shot! Thanks for pointing it out. I hadn't thought about how to use the empty space.

In another possible use, I had considered it as a wallpaper for my tablet, since I don't necessarily want a very cluttered background, but I did like the colors and there is the dragonfly as the one point of interest.

 

[raptor photo]

I like the first one, minimalistic.

 

[PhotoLover]

I like the first one, minimalistic.

As a sort of summary, I've been really interested in the various takes on different types of images, the minimalist one I started with, the really tight one, the more "typical" one, all featuring a side-on shot of a dragonfly.

I liked the minimal look the post started with ... but it leaves most folks thinking not enough going on. I found MrFotoFool's take refreshing -- think of that image as a potential framework.

Then the really really tight shot, which at least one poster found much too tight but I like as a more detailed look at an interesting critter.

And of course, the more typical image where the dragonfly occupies much of the frame, but still plenty of space around it -- though as noted, dragonfly on a stick is not a unique picture! (But my question originally was more about the type of image in the first shot, not so much its uniqueness .. and indeed the dragonfly ain't unique).

Comments about left to right versus right to left were useful. As noted, I don't flip (for various reasons ... perhaps I should), but in practice I tend to prefer left to right myself, especially with moving things. I still need to go look at the referenced material on placement based on art.

The head-on picture is more interesting, partly because it's less common, I think, though the downside of such a shot is that dragonfly faces, while perhaps interesting, are ... not ... cute.

Thanks to everyone that took the time to respond.

 

[Woodyg3]

If I read what you were asking in the first place, you want to know if this is a good minimalist photo with a lot of negative space. In my opinion, the background isn't interesting enough to make this picture work in that way. I've tried this type of shot many times and it is surprisingly hard to get a picture I am happy with. Then, to be honest, when I get one that I like it's still not overly popular with "the general public."

Not to belittle anyone's opinion, but I've never believed the left to right compositional theory. For instance, how strange a world it would be if all birds only flew from left to right!

All in all, though, it only matters if you like this composition. It also doesn't matter if "only" 5% of the viewers like it. Those 5% count! Not all compositions can be universally appreciated.

 

[Paul Grecian]

View attachment 68788


I can't decide. I kinda like it .... the lone dragonfly on that sparse background and the colors work for me. My spouse is like ... no. What do others think ... my feelings are not going to be hurt by a negative response

I actually quite like the picture. When you ask about it being “interesting,” I think that sometimes gets translated to “is it exciting.” Not the same thing. I don’t think it’s an “exciting” image. I find the image peaceful, quiet, circumspective. I like the varying tonalities in the background. How the green area envelopes the dragon fully, rising behind it to create an interesting curved line. For me, the distance you place between the viewer and the dragon prevents the tension of a close-up experience. I feel free to study the dragon within its environment. I like the placement in the lower part of the frame and it facing left. Facing right can imply imminent movement, a sense of tension that it will take off.

 

[PhotoLover]

I actually quite like the picture. When you ask about it being “interesting,” I think that sometimes gets translated to “is it exciting.” Not the same thing. I don’t think it’s an “exciting” image. I find the image peaceful, quiet, circumspective. I like the varying tonalities in the background. How the green area envelopes the dragon fully, rising behind it to create an interesting curved line. For me, the distance you place between the viewer and the dragon prevents the tension of a close-up experience. I feel free to study the dragon within its environment. I like the placement in the lower part of the frame and it facing left. Facing right can imply imminent movement, a sense of tension that it will take off.

Responding to both Paul and Woodyg3. I think Paul sums it up better than I do. Basically, if you find the background ... soothing, peaceful, pleasing etc the picture works standalone. But you have to like the background, which I do, and Paul does, but Woodg3 finds not so pleasing/interesting (I agree with Woodyg3, even if you like the minimalist look, it's challenging to figure out what should be the negative space in a given image). This is also a type of image that might be appealing in some moods, but not others. It is, as Paul says, perhaps peaceful but definitely not exciting.

I remain agnostic on the right to left versus left to right for static images, though I have a preference for left to right with moving critters. For images I particularly like, I should remember to try flipping them if it makes sense to see if that affects my opinion of the image.

Helpful comments from you both, I've been happy with the range of input I've received on this little picture. Regardless of whether 90% or 1% of people like it, I wanted to get a feel for why someone actually might like, or not like it. As Woodyg3 says, no image will please everybody.

 

[MikePapple]

Jeff,

Honestly, I tend to agree, I have lots of "dragonfly on a stick" pictures .. I take a lot of them this time of year when I find the birding a bit lacking ... but lots of dragonflies out there! I specifically asked about the original image because I thought the background was more interesting than usual and wondered if there was a somewhat more intriguing image lurking. But perhaps not. I also have a couple of dragonfly in flight pictures - I posted one - and they are obviously a lot more dynamic. And a few Halloween pennants on a stick against green backgrounds which look kinda nice colorwise. Good point about shots where they are tilting their heads, I should go back and see if I have anything like that. Sometimes head-on shots are more interesting (and I'm not that wedded to this one either, just an example ...):

View attachment 68940

I actually have a somewhat unusual photo of a dragonfly being consumed by a small spider I should post ...

Its smiling at you!

 

[Jeffrey Davidson]

Nice background but too much of it. Crop!

 

[A.Royce]

View attachment 68788


I can't decide. I kinda like it .... the lone dragonfly on that sparse background and the colors work for me. My spouse is like ... no. What do others think ... my feelings are not going to be hurt by a negative response

To be honest I think you did really well...it is the simple things that tend to work well. The only suggestion I have would be to crop in closer since that is the subject.

 

[seh]

Jeff,

Honestly, I tend to agree, I have lots of "dragonfly on a stick" pictures .. I take a lot of them this time of year when I find the birding a bit lacking ... but lots of dragonflies out there! I specifically asked about the original image because I thought the background was more interesting than usual and wondered if there was a somewhat more intriguing image lurking. But perhaps not. I also have a couple of dragonfly in flight pictures - I posted one - and they are obviously a lot more dynamic. And a few Halloween pennants on a stick against green backgrounds which look kinda nice colorwise. Good point about shots where they are tilting their heads, I should go back and see if I have anything like that. Sometimes head-on shots are more interesting (and I'm not that wedded to this one either, just an example ...):

View attachment 68940

I actually have a somewhat unusual photo of a dragonfly being consumed by a small spider I should post ...

Please don't as the above will already lead to nightmares.

 

[markymark]

View attachment 68788


I can't decide. I kinda like it .... the lone dragonfly on that sparse background and the colors work for me. My spouse is like ... no. What do others think ... my feelings are not going to be hurt by a negative response

I love the colours in the background but think the subject just needs to be a bit higher in the frame & would just crop enough to achieve that, as I think the image is a bit too top heavy. But I’m not talking a lot!
I think it would look really nice framed & on a wall in a room where the colours of the room either matched or complimented the colours in the image & vise Versa jmho.

 

[O]

View attachment 68788


I can't decide. I kinda like it .... the lone dragonfly on that sparse background and the colors work for me. My spouse is like ... no. What do others think ... my feelings are not going to be hurt by a negative response

You can still show the background soft colours tastefully but there is far to much negative space that makes me wonder is it the back ground I am looking at or the stick with a tiny insect on it, I would crop it 60% and flip the image.

Only an opinion.

 

[StefanSC]

If you're gonna go with negative space, wholly embrace it, don't slavishly adhere to the rule of thirds.

Push the subject as far in a corner as it can go, keep the negative space in front of it so it has some room to go to and let the viewer feel that it's a small creature in a huge unknown world but there is nothing stopping it from exploring that world.

 

[PhotoLover]

If you're gonna go with negative space, wholly embrace it, don't slavishly adhere to the rule of thirds.

Push the subject as far in a corner as it can go, keep the negative space in front of it so it has some room to go to and let the viewer feel that it's a small creature in a huge unknown world but there is nothing stopping it from exploring that world.

If you read the thread, you'll see a huge diversity of opinion here, even if one likes the minimalist look! In fact, the image I posted is cropped tighter than my original, which does have the dragonfly more off to the side and a bit lower. When I took the shot, I didn't have the dragonfly quite as much to the side as you are suggesting, though with that background I could probably extend the photo and recrop as it were.

If nothing else, I've found the discussion interesting!

 

[PhotoLover]

Please don't as the above will already lead to nightmares.

Too late, the dragonfly mishap was posted under Spider 1, Dragonfly 0 .......

 

[gKhan]

View attachment 68788


I can't decide. I kinda like it .... the lone dragonfly on that sparse background and the colors work for me. My spouse is like ... no. What do others think ... my feelings are not going to be hurt by a negative response

I like it quite a bit, because I generally like pix that are not too busy and the subject is clearly defined or emphasized.

 

[K9Kirk]

My initial thought of the 1st pic was it looks nice, love the bg color but the subject is lacking a little in the detail dept. I like enviro shots myself, but I always question whether I'm seeing a lot of nothing or too much of something that's not so attractive. If the answer is yes, then I crop in more to eliminate some of the featureless or unattractive bg and bring out more detail in the subject. if I can't crop in more without hurting the IQ I then question whether it's a keeper or not.

 

[Flyboy]

I can certainly crop it, but I'm not clear on why flipping it makes it better.

View attachment 68802

MUCH better! Never forget what the subject is!

 

[MrFotoFool]

As a standalone photo, meaning if you were to print and frame it as is, I think there is too much background. However photos like this work great as an image to add text to. If this were a two-page spread at the start of a magazine article with text over the background, it would be fantastic. Or for your own framed print, you could overlay an inspirational quote or poem. Another option is to superimpose smaller photos in the blank area - say three going down vertically on the left side, each with a thin line around them; perhaps three different dragonflies?