Lonely Lotus

[spree86]

I would like to seek feedback about the composition and how I can improve the image by post processing as i know it is far from perfect.

I wanted to create a feel of loneliness by showing that the lone lotus is surrounded by the buildings and no other flowers are around.

This photo is taken under very bright sun with a CPL attached, the top right hand corner is totally blown out but the doesn't look as bad when in B/W.

Thanks in advance for any advices

 

[coolthought]

imho, this might work for me if the second building on the right is not there behind the lotus or at least if it is much much lighter shade for contrast to allow the dark flower to standout.

 

[ismokeweed79]

Doesn't stand out, took me awhile to find where was the lotus.

 

[spree86]

imho, this might work for me if the second building on the right is not there behind the lotus or at least if it is much much lighter shade for contrast to allow the dark flower to standout.

Doesn't stand out, took me awhile to find where was the lotus.

Yes, the lotus doesn't seem to catch attention against the dark background. I shall try to make the lotus stand out more in my 2nd try, thanks guys!!

 

[ClemC]

spree - what do you want to present when you captured this image?.. if you want to capture the temple, then the lotus is just a forground..

if you want to capture the lotus, then what is the use of have the whole temple?

It is very much what you want to achieved when you capture.. whatever you do in post-processing (like selective-desaturation) will not help very much if your thoughts during capture is not well-thought out .. Happy shooting..

 

[spree86]

spree - what do you want to present when you captured this image?.. if you want to capture the temple, then the lotus is just a forground..

if you want to capture the lotus, then what is the use of have the whole temple?

It is very much what you want to achieved when you capture.. whatever you do in post-processing (like selective-desaturation) will not help very much if your thoughts during capture is not well-thought out .. Happy shooting..

The lotus is definitely the subject, guess I just didn't want to cut off the temple, hmm I could have isolated the lotus better rather than have the temple steal the attention

 

[night86mare]

one thing to note is that selective coloring has been overused to the point where it is gimmicky 80% of the time.

technique aside, let's talk about the composition:

1. lotus extends into the temple
2. keystone distortion on the temple, why?
3. other than position in picture, weight, the amount of space your subject takes up plays an important role. for such little weight, you need to make it stand out more!

 

[spree86]

one thing to note is that selective coloring has been overused to the point where it is gimmicky 80% of the time.

technique aside, let's talk about the composition:

1. lotus extends into the temple
2. keystone distortion on the temple, why?
3. other than position in picture, weight, the amount of space your subject takes up plays an important role. for such little weight, you need to make it stand out more!

The picture was taken bottom up and not horizontal to the plane of focus thus the keystone effect, i should have resolved that before posting:embrass:

And yes from the comments so far, it seems that my subject doesn't carry much weight, i shall keep that in mind the next time i compose such shots. Thanks!!

 

[daredevil123]

My feel is that if you want to make something the subject, it has to stand out immediately. That doesn't mean it has to occupy the biggest amount of space, but you have to compose so that it is the most eye catching.

Your lotus, even though selectively colored, is still hard to find, when I first looked at the picture. And that says a lot about the lack of dominance in attention.

 

[spree86]

My feel is that if you want to make something the subject, it has to stand out immediately. That doesn't mean it has to occupy the biggest amount of space, but you have to compose so that it is the most eye catching.

Your lotus, even though selectively colored, is still hard to find, when I first looked at the picture. And that says a lot about the lack of dominance in attention.

Yes, the lotus does not catch attention, I think mainly due to the lack of contrast with the background. Maybe i can try to lighten the background or make the colour of the lotus pop out more?

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

i think the main issue is the placement of the subject (lotus) with regard to the background. The architecture of both buildings is very strong. As such, I find my eyes drawn immediately to them, ignoring the coloured lotus.

lightening the background would likely not help.

 

[spree86]

i think the main issue is the placement of the subject (lotus) with regard to the background. The architecture of both buildings is very strong. As such, I find my eyes drawn immediately to them, ignoring the coloured lotus.

lightening the background would likely not help.

Hmm so its a composition problem, guess I messed up try to fit the temples in as well, should have kept it simpler.

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

yeah... that's what I think...

 

[daredevil123]

Hmm so its a composition problem, guess I messed up try to fit the temples in as well, should have kept it simpler.

Yes, I think it is a composition issue too.

 

[spree86]

Thanks guys!! Shall put more thought into the composition next time I take such shots, the temples are too eye-catching for the theme to work. Nevertheless, serves as good memory of my Bangkok trip haha:bsmilie:

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

Thanks guys!! Shall put more thought into the composition next time I take such shots, the temples are too eye-catching for the theme to work. Nevertheless, serves as good memory of my Bangkok trip haha:bsmilie:

yes. Bangkok has some wonderful architecture.
Overall I think it's still quite a nice photo

 

[spree86]

yes. Bangkok has some wonderful architecture.
Overall I think it's still quite a nice photo

Thanks!! Yes Bangkok has great architecture, just wish I had more time to shoot without my friends rushing me to move along:bsmilie: