A few questions about this one

[maddog.mark]

I posted this in Landscapes with a long list of questions which may have put the casual viewer off, so here goes, my first post in here.

I'd like honest constructive critique on this shot please I've been after it for a while and finally got the weather for it at the weekend.
The flowers have suffered somewhat due the snow and frosts which is a shame, but I still decided to have a play.

Question is was it worth it?
Do you like the composition?
I think I've lost a bit of detail in the foreground, to much?
I had to clone a pylon and wires out of the shot, can you see the pp work? I'm not very good at it.

For those of you with cloning expertise, I'd appreciate some advice on the best way to do it to avoid those dreaded blobs.

So enough talking here's the shot

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2166/2407895043_b5aa4fa35b_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/w99/2407895043/)

Thanks

Mark

[BOM]

I wouldnt have known you had cloned anything out if you hadnt said.

I generally like the shot, I like the perspective, its almost "Just right"

The one thing I dont like........ Its not daffodilly enough :D I would have loved to have seen more of a sea of yellow, it gives the impression you caught the field after its "best".

[maddog.mark]

The one thing I dont like........ Its not daffodilly enough :D I would have loved to have seen more of a sea of yellow, it gives the impression you caught the field after its "best".

Thanks for the comments BOM. Unfortunately I did capture the field after its best. It's just round the corner from me though so there's always next year:D

[BOM]

I reckon it'll be a stunner next year then when you get it at its best and your happy with your clone skills :D

And I'm not just saying that because I'm welsh :lol:

[mobilevirgin]

I think I can see the cloning - above the clump of trees to the left. Doesn't look too bad, but a bit of clone stamp should sort it. TBH its a bit difficult to give in depth crit to answer your questions because of the size. I feel your foreground interest could have been slightly better - you've got a bare patch right in the middle of the daffs - maybe a tad to the left would have been better. But this is all picking nits - its an excellent shot - well composed and good colour

[Techno-Geek]

Hey mark, i really like this. Is tha from the maze on the road from South Creake to Fakenham? Just looks like there to me :lol:

I can't see any cloneing really, so it must be a good,en :D

I really like it :thumbs:

[Theo Moore]

The cloning, as others mentioned, is not very noticeable (I assume it was near the middle-left of the image). Unfortunately for me, the image just doesn't do anything. Why? It's hard to say -- there just isn't anything particularly interesting in the image: No central focus. Your eyes wanders and wanders.

Don't take this the wrong way; I understand perfectly what you were trying to capture and I'm not sure how I could have done it better myself. Perhaps (in retrospect), I would have gone completely wide (10-15mm) with the horizon 2/3 of the way up, thus giving an idea of the field of flowers. But this is all theoretical and in retrospect.

If you want to enhance the original image, perhaps what you can do is combine two exposures/brightness levels, and mask at the horizon. This will allow you to keep the sky as it is, and brighten the foreground slightly.

[moomike]

I think I'd agree with Theo on this one, a blend of exposures or a very subtle HDR would enhance the foreground which is, at the moment, a tad on the dark side.

With regards to the cloning out of the pylon, make sure you are working at a quarterly magnification (25%, 50% or 100%) as this will ensure the pixels are properly represented on the screen - don't work at percentages like 16.7% or anything like that as it wont provide an accurate representation.
Work your cloning with masks too so as you can subtly blend any obvious areas - this, in addition to the spot healing tool, can give you very clear & hopefully not too obvious results :thumbs:

The way that I actually do it is to copy an area of my image & blend it over the area that I'm trying to cover up - I don't really use the cloning tool much at all as I find it a bit heavy handed as it blurs the cloned area if used at less than 100% opacity :thumbs:

[maddog.mark]

Thanks very much for the feedback folks, all appreciated:thumbs:

Hey mark, i really like this. Is tha from the maze on the road from South Creake to Fakenham? Just looks like there to me :lol:

Just outside Briston Tony

The cloning, as others mentioned, is not very noticeable (I assume it was near the middle-left of the image). Unfortunately for me, the image just doesn't do anything. Why? It's hard to say -- there just isn't anything particularly interesting in the image: No central focus. Your eyes wanders and wanders.

Don't take this the wrong way; I understand perfectly what you were trying to capture and I'm not sure how I could have done it better myself. Perhaps (in retrospect), I would have gone completely wide (10-15mm) with the horizon 2/3 of the way up, thus giving an idea of the field of flowers. But this is all theoretical and in retrospect.

If you want to enhance the original image, perhaps what you can do is combine two exposures/brightness levels, and mask at the horizon. This will allow you to keep the sky as it is, and brighten the foreground slightly.

All postive stuff Theo thanks very much. I appreciate your comments, I agree that there isn't enough to hold the eye. I'll try and lift the foreground as the flowers should be the point of the picture, the sky was to provide some bg interest. :)

I think I'd agree with Theo on this one, a blend of exposures or a very subtle HDR would enhance the foreground which is, at the moment, a tad on the dark side.

With regards to the cloning out of the pylon, make sure you are working at a quarterly magnification (25%, 50% or 100%) as this will ensure the pixels are properly represented on the screen - don't work at percentages like 16.7% or anything like that as it wont provide an accurate representation.
Work your cloning with masks too so as you can subtly blend any obvious areas - this, in addition to the spot healing tool, can give you very clear & hopefully not too obvious results :thumbs:

The way that I actually do it is to copy an area of my image & blend it over the area that I'm trying to cover up - I don't really use the cloning tool much at all as I find it a bit heavy handed as it blurs the cloned area if used at less than 100% opacity :thumbs:


Thanks for the pointers Moomike, will give that a try:thumbs: