Fog

[olorin]

[ilchkai]

i find this too dark, too somber... the greyness is overwhelming although probably intentional, considering the title

to me it looks like a bit too straight-out-of-the-camera, there are a number of elements that i find distracting for the simplicity too work, or too obscure for any other effect to work. if you are after a fog effect then some light is needed to shine into or through the fog - the hint of a building in the background does not provide me with any clue as to the density of the fog

there seems to be sensor dirt in the image, along the bottom, above the rose, and in between the leaves. also the bits in the lower left hand corner annoy me.

i hope that you don't mind me being overly critical here - for me this image does not work.


kai

[olorin]

It is straight from the camera, just thinking what to do next with it. So all ideas are welcome

[aprilS]

My first reaction was also "so dark!"  Then, I wonder why the artist chose to present it this way and try to discern the message. Was it the delight of a spot of color in the midst of all that gray? Or, a bud of promise toward when the fog lifts?

So as you consider "what to do next with it", I'd try to bring out why it caught your attention at that moment -- what you were feeling. Perhaps that was somber and dulled! I'd be curious to hear.

I also wonder about a square crop from the lower right corner, because the brighter area on the left doesn't add anything for me except to emphasize the darker gray boundary strip. But that crop might make it too static.

[eob]

Regrettably, I find this image failing at any and all levels. Once more, I have to say that without proper technique, you just can't convey any kind of message/mood/esthetic effect.

I downloaded it to my computer and played with it for a couple of minutes. What I came up with was a much brighter image with clearly visible spider's strings sparkling with dew-droplets and a fresh-colored rose. I also cropped it into a square - as April suggested. Overall, I think the result was much more pleasing, at least to me. But then again, I have no idea what kind of effect you've been after, so my result may be very far from your intentions...

If, by any chance, you would like to see my result, let us know and I will post it here.

[olorin]

I would like to see it, because I haven't got any time to play with this, so the result here was straight-from-the-camera shot.

[eob]

Because the fog in this particular context is not clearly perceived as fog, but rather, as a technical failure of the exposition, I would rather forgo the fog element altogether and go for a simple but clear composition. Here, I tried just that: simple correction of exposure, contrast and saturation. Unfortunately, because I was working on a JPEG image, the compression artifacts started to be quite conspicuous, so I had to stop my corrections before the image got too obviously damaged. That's where the superiority of RAW format plays its main role.



Photos straight-from-camera almost never work, even if they are exposed perfectly. If you want to convey a special mood, it is virtually impossible to use unprocessed images.

[Theo]

I agree with the square crop and popping the brightness........

[aprilS]

Unfortunately, because I was working on a JPEG image, the compression artifacts started to be quite conspicuous, so I had to stop my corrections before the image got too obviously damaged.

Yet one thing I love here is the way the (previously unnoticed) dew-dropped spider web plays against the pixilated background -- akin to a canvas -- which also brings out depth between the foreground and background flowers. Now I see echoes and ties amongst all the elements!

Photos straight-from-camera almost never work, even if they are exposed perfectly.

And yet, as a point of honor we keep trying, no?

[habakuk]

Without reading the comments, I must say, I  much prefer the first sombre, grey version. It's uneasy, yes. It's even a bit disturbing. And this is what I like. Taking the obvious and give it a twist...

cheers
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