Rattlers

[elf]

This is a grass called rattler grass by local residents of the southern Oregon coast.



Olympus e330
El-Nikkor 50mm
F/5.6
1/2 second
Lighting: Single Ott lamp

and a 100% crop

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/ ... 63c100.jpg

[Aynia]

Beautiful image. Though I thought I was going to see a snake! Much nicer than a snake!

Only tiny criticism is the bit on the bottom left is slightly off putting. If it was me I might try cloning it out!

[AndrewC]

Nice image but, like Aynia, I'd remove some of it - I find both lower left and right elements distracting. As this is a studio shot I'd just prune or select a bunch that fitted rather than wasting time in PS.

Andrew

[beetleman]

The lighting plays very well on the surface textures IMO. Each seed pod has a slighty different angle also. Like the right pod is facing towards the light, the other two are facing slighty away.

[Harold Gough]

A very striking image. A pity it was not just the three heads.

Harold

[rjlittlefield]

You know, I kinda suspect that elf placed those extra heads very carefully because he liked the composition that way.

It's always interesting to me what different people do and don't like.

I confess, I think the extra heads are distracting too. But on the other hand, I haven't seen the composition without them, and I'm often surprised by the difference between what I think I'll think, and what I actually think when I get there.

I agree with previous posters about the lighting and textures -- marvelous!

--Rik

[ChrisR]

Are you aiming for more than a "just" a record shot? I think so, from the effort you put into the frame.
When I did FRPS a century ago they used to say
"Find a Red Patch Somewhere. Failing that, get three of something, then make it interesting." Anarchists used 5 of things, shock horror! The extra 2 don't work for me where they are, in this one.
But "Interesting" is the hard part - how to make someone want to keep looking.
You've got really nice texture, tone and light, which is not easy. So far so good, stay with it. More, please!

ps - Are these things small? Your viewer has no way of knowing..

Oh and another thought - If you use a black background, do you want parts of your subject submerging into it? I don't think so.

[Charles Krebs]

Very nice!

... and I like it with the lower corners as they are...

[elf]

Here it is with the offending bits cloned out. I think I still prefer the original slightly.


The original was planned to be a much larger panorama, but after shooting these first two frames in 45 minutes, I realized I would never stay awake to finish the other 6 frames. This was taken after driving several hours, walking on the beach for a few more hours, eating dinner, and then sitting in a hot tub for an hour. Definitely not a recipe for staying awake.

It did take quite a while to manuever the camera, light, and subject into this composition. I think the heads were about 20mm in height. They would not fit in a single frame at minimum bellows draw with the El-Nikkor 50mm.


p.s. The frame was created with an action called "Sharon's Mattes" from this site: http://www.atncentral.com/frames.htm It looks like quite a few more actions have been added since the last time I visited the site.

[rjlittlefield]

But on the other hand, I haven't seen the composition without them, and I'm often surprised by the difference between what I think I'll think, and what I actually think when I get there.

How prophetic!

Now that I've seen it without the corners, I definitely prefer it with them!

--Rik

[Harold Gough]

I prefer the edited version, in that the eye is not led off to the sides/corners.

Harold

[AndrewC]

Both have their plus points but I prefer the revised version.

Andrew