Desat. Garden Pic.

[Steph_B]

Hi everybody,

Here is a shot from our local botanical garden. It's almost BW but not quite... just highly desaturated. It was a very monochromatic shot to begin with, with mostly green and yellow.

I wanted this to be an invitation to sit down and relax... maybe contemplate? In which case, the 'view' is not that important at all... hence the blown out highlights!

Is this working? I'm not quite sure...

Please let me know if you have any suggestions.Thanks!

Cheers,

Stephane

F100 - 50mm F16 - Velvia 100F
(it's actually a pano of 4 frames taken in a portrait mode)

[opus]

I like it. It's working for me. Great way to focus the eye on the bench without making it too prominent. Love the shape of the branches and the three tree trunks in a row. on the left, and that row of trees on the right. Great color in the grass.

Very nice!

[dadas115]

For me the blown out highlights are just a bit too bright and they more or less spoil the picture. I like the shape of the trees in the foreground but it sort of looks like some sort of nuclear blast going on. I do like the de-saturated look and I think that works well for this picture and I really like how the trees look.

Greg

[Clicker]

Good job on the Panoramic! I don't mind the blown out highlights at all, they create a mood. What does bother me is that the lowest limb is "missing" branches I like the photo though! Just makes it more real, with the bare branch, not as " picturesque" does that make sense?

[bobbythebandit]

I like it. Has a dream like feel to it that grabs me.Well done.
Bobby

[Seb]

Hi everybody,

Here is a shot from our local botanical garden. It's almost BW but not quite... just highly desaturated. It was a very monochromatic shot to begin with, with mostly green and yellow.

I wanted this to be an invitation to sit down and relax... maybe contemplate? In which case, the 'view' is not that important at all... hence the blown out highlights!

Is this working? I'm not quite sure...

Please let me know if you have any suggestions.Thanks!

Cheers,

Stephane

F100 - 50mm F16 - Velvia 100F
(it's actually a pano of 4 frames taken in a portrait mode)

Hello Stephane,

This is a nice picture. What draw my attention here at the first place is the play of light arround the three main trees at the left. I will honnestly admit that I am not fully comfortable with the overexposition but I mostly like it. It does allow for an interesting and unusual mood.

(On a side note, I envy you for being based in Vancouver! I was there over a month ago and this is probably the greatest city I have visited so far).

regards

Seb

[Steph_B]

Thank you all for having a look!

Bobby and Kelly: I am glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know... this is not my usual 'style' so I was threading on unknown grounds here!

Rachel: I padded the bare branch with a bit more leaves/needles. I usually do not like to tweak a pic this way, but you are indeed right: this branch is a bit ... too real! It is now a bit better. Thanks for your comment!

Greg and Seb: I wanted to give to this picture the feeling you have when you go out in the summer and everything seems to be crushed by sunlight. The bench and the trees are providing a bit of protection... Go ahead, take a seat! I have revised a bit my levels based on your comments though. I've soften the 'nuclear blast' highlights!

Thanks all for your comments...

Happy ThanksGiving to all of you!

Cheers,

Steph.

[Tuna]

I think that the theory of the photo is good and what you have presented is one way of doing that. Underexposing the shadows which automatically blows out the highlights. But, for me, it just looks too washed out, overall.

The same effect might be achieved more efficiently by shooting in fog, or in dimmer, more moodier light early or late in the day. I also think that the photo, or it's concept, would work better in B&W.

Tuna

[Steph_B]

I think that the theory of the photo is good and what you have presented is one way of doing that. Underexposing the shadows which automatically blows out the highlights. But, for me, it just looks too washed out, overall.

The same effect might be achieved more efficiently by shooting in fog, or in dimmer, more moodier light early or late in the day. I also think that the photo, or it's concept, would work better in B&W.

Tuna

Thanks Tuna for your feedback. I have appended here a BW version. Somehow, I feel that the colored version has more appeal to it...I guess this shot is a bit unconventional...

I made a print out of it and I really like the result. I have tuned down slightly the highlights and brought back the BG a little bit though.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Cheers,

Steph.