Monday, October 05, 2009

Green to Red.

This image has some faults that I'll discuss later, but the thing I like about it is the contrast of the green and red. It seems like in the fall we go from everything bright and green to vibrant red overnight. This image depicts that transition to me. It is said that a photographer is only as good as the worst picture they display. Unfortunately I have displayed many poor images. This one has a major technical fault. Do you see it? Take a close look and then hit the 'read more' and see if we agree.


1/800 f/5 ISO 400 75.0-300.0 mm @ 120 mm Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL


So what was it that you saw? The major problem I see is that the focus point is wrong. The element that has sharp focus is the tree trunk. Why? Simply because I didn't think about it at the time. If I were to redo this one, I'd make the distant red leaves the focal point. That would be more representative of the transition to fall to me.

You might also have picked on the over exposed sky. That is also true, but I don't think is as serious. in the uncropped original it was more apparent, but I have cropped to eliminate most of the problem.

So why do I show images which are technically 'below par', There are two reasons. This first is related to why I post daily images to this blog in the first place. I am making a conscious effort to review my past work (recent or distant) and critique it. I want to learn from my mistakes. Of course I don't have to do it publicly, but it has become part of the discipline. I figure there are about fifty people who regularly look at my images - about a dozen a day.  So I there are people who are looking for my postings; that is encouragement to do it. Secondly by sharing my mistakes, it helps others. I have gotten many comments from people who read my postings and thank me for sharing what I have learned.

So, the next time you set out to make an image, remember to pick a focus point. In fact try several different ones, and see which you like the best. The important thing is that you make a conscious decision.

1 comment:

Zenith said...

I was able to spot the mistake before doing the read more. On another note, The mistake is really highlighted in the context and the story behind the image, with the same focus point, could you have a differnt title and story line that is convincing that this is the picture you wanted...?