Here we try to have a very helpful mix between pointing out the strong sides of a photo, and to help each other find those areas that can be improved. There are few things as valuable to a photographer as to see their own images through someone else's eyes. Even if you don't post images yourself, you can learn a lot from analyzing and commenting on images.

What photos are suitable?

Your very best gardening related photos or those images that you feel you need some help with. Simple!

What else do I need to know?

Include which camera (and lens if applicable) that was used. ISO, shutter speed and f-stop if you know them. Did you use a tripod, flash, reflectors or a diffuser ? It is also good to tell if the image is cropped or if any significant post processing was done.

The reason to include this info, is that it helps those that see your image to understand how it were created. This way they can provide the best possible feedback.
If you welcome others to edit your photo, to see if they can enhance it, please state that when posting.

Shot in 2017, but suitable for the season.

Helleborus SP Lily
Nikon D300 + Nikon 300 f/2.8 VR + 1.7 TC, f/13, 0.6 seconds, ISO 200, tripod, no crop

One question I have about this image, is if it is too tightly framed?

Wow, what a gorgeous Hellebore
Your image--the magic light, the superb color, and clarity--make me want one just like it!
Does it hold the blooms up like that or did you prop it somehow?

I don't know the right answer to your question so .... maybe ...
But, I'm going with Yes.
My eyes are drawn to anything discernible near the edge, no matter what I'm supposed to be looking at, so in that sense, yes, the tightness of the framing does invite me right out there to all the edges, almost against my will, but I can make it back after a bit, without falling off, too far. The bottom edge is the more treacherous one for wandering afar in this case.

And, the trouble with my participation is I'm not qualified to offer much...sorry now and in advance.

From the other evening...


Okay, I'm trying to learn a new-for-me, old lens -- it says it's a Tamron SP AF 70-200mm F2.8 Di LD [IF] Macro, whatever all that means.
So far, I think it's pretty cool.
Works with the K-1to capture every bit of the full frame goodness, and my focal length and 35mm focal length are now the same #, 180mm, for this shot.
Speed was 1/180. ISO 280. Hand held and on the ground in an awkward position trying to shoot between the tall dead things I hadn't cleaned up. Cropped some to straighten a bit and I lost my blurry foreground.

Suggestions?

I have since cleaned out the bulk of the leaves and dead stalks in this area. I hate it when I wreck the crocuses in that process, but glad I grabbed this picture first.

Many thanks, Dirt.

No, unfortunately SP Lily it doesn't hold the flowers that upright. I almost always use a flexible arm called The Plamp to hold flowers in the position that I want, and I think I must have done so here as well, but memory is a bit foggy as the image is a few years old.

I really enjoyed reading your comments, especially about the framing. As my first instinct is to go as close as possible, to have great depth of field on my subjects and still have a clean background, I often find myself framing unnecessarily tight and this is a habit that I want to change.

You are one of the most talented photographers we have here, so if you feel under qualified to comment, then we are all in real trouble.
Image critique does not need to be advanced or complicated. You simply write whatever thoughts or feelings you may have about the photo and you have done so beautifully here.

There are no right or wrong comments either, so I hope no one feels that they must have a degree in arts or something to comment. Looking at the bigger picture, we all will differ some in our opinions about a photograph and I think it is wonderful, because some will love vanilla and others will love chocolate.

Dirt, I really like the leaves around your crocuses. Makes it look more like a shot in the wild and the leaves provide a uniform color and smoothness around your subject, that you otherwise might not have had.
Light looks great and I love how the blooms are turned to each other slightly, somehow makes me think of giraffes on a sunburned African plain with their necks tenderly entwined, with the blooms contrasting to the dead leaves.
Nicely done, in my opinion!

Dirt, adding my 2 cents... try cropping so the background crocus is "cut off" a little bit at the top, in order to draw attention to the smaller in-focus bloom. Yes, love the leaves and the crocus poking up through them, great eye seeing that small subject!

a little...


What do you think?

yes, I think that brings the attention to the little flower that's in such crisp focus.

of course, it's quite a different photo when you do that -- you don't have the "2 giraffes kissing" composition.

cropped closer into an 8x10...


and even closer, bringing more attention to the new grass blades marching across the bottom...

or maybe


closest, just to show how much the image changes...


None are necessarily "better" than what you started with, just "different." You saw 2 flowers when you took the photo; because of the focus plane, I saw 1 budding bloom with another providing background color.

I just got a new Paintshop program (2019, not the very newest 2020), and it lets me change the depth of field in post-processing, which will be a total game changer for me once I figure out how to use it! I'd gotten in the habit of focusing less tightly on my subject so I had more cropping options for the image, but this past year I've been trying to frame a widescreen photo in my viewfinder, so it would be "good" without any cropping. When possible, I snap multiples of any given object/scene... love that digital "film" is free!

I just got a new Paintshop program (2019, not the very newest 2020), and it lets me change the depth of field in post-processing, which will be a total game changer for me once I figure out how to use it! I'd gotten in the habit of focusing less tightly on my subject so I had more cropping options for the image, but this past year I've been trying to frame a widescreen photo in my viewfinder, so it would be "good" without any cropping. When possible, I snap multiples of any given object/scene... love that digital "film" is free!

for what its worth - here is my interpretation of Dirt's crocuses

critterologist said: and it lets me change the depth of field in post-processing

What in the world? really? what does that mean?
Sorry, I am so clueless about that--very curious though...

I like your crop James!

Asa really doesn't like vertical photos on the screen, something about impossible to view, scrolling, whatever, he should explain, not me--but anyway, point is I have repeated aversion therapy against vertical photos so I don't do many. However, there are a lot of long and narrow wall spaces in the world so I have been experimenting more with vertical shots.
The out of focus crocus in the background doesn't bother me being as prominent as it is--it's got good shape and color and adds to the giraffie-bit helps explain the future of the bud and all. I have some others where the background crocies are much less recognizable and really just color, perhaps that would be better...

critterologist

"change the depth of field in post-processing"
intrigues me so much, I am seriously contemplating Paintshop Ultimate

dirtdorphins

think I know why some may not like portrait shots ... many may upload ridiculously huge portrait files ....
the "modern internet" is built for jpgs no bigger than 600 pix on longest side ... anything bigger than that messes-up peoples smart phone & lap-top screens

all I did in the crocus pic was to crop out the bottom, right side & top ....leaving all of the left side ....reason I did it ?
sort of brings the crocus pic into the "rule of thirds"

If I'm understanding the description (haven't played with this feature yet), in addition to the general "blur the background" capability that's been around for a while with digital processing, you'll also be able to choose how the thickness of the focal plane, which is what I meant when I said depth of field (hope I'm using the right terms)... say you took a photo of a rosebush in the garden, and all of it's in pretty good focus... You could blur the garden in the background and focus on the whole rosebush, or you could focus one rose in the foreground and blur everything behind it.

Sharpening focus is a limited function -- you can sharpen an image a little, but if it's out of focus when the camera took the shot, you're never going to get a lovely crisp image. DE-focusing, on the other hand, can be done to any image, in whole or in part, and the control over doing this seems to be much better in the latest software.

I've never ponied up for photoshop ($$$), but I really like Paintshop. The version I got in fall is Paintshop Pro Ultimate 2019. Of course I'm now being bombarded by upgrade offers to PSP Ultimate 2020... and I'm tempted, except that I'm nowhere close to utilizing the nifty features is the 2019 version!

Wow
Had no idea there was even a

"blur the background" capability that's been around for a while with digital processing

let alone some way to selectively manipulate DOF
craziness!
and here I thought you had to do it with the camera

Clearly, I don't understand whatever I thought I did

Don't get me wrong, doing it with the camera is still the goal -- and I don't think the digital post-processing will ever get quite the same results -- but what you can do post-shot is pretty amazing and probably even more so if your camera records RAW files.

okay, well I'm sure anxious to see what you can do with it--please figure it out and give us some before and afters sometime!

As a big fan of your photography, Dirt, I find your composition and settings are always as best as could be instinctively, So I am only chiming in because of your invitation to see what other variations can be done with this lovely crocus photo. First of all, I think the framing is just fine, my adjustment was to highlight the little budding crocus and keep the mature crocus not as distinct. Perhaps it's too dramatic for some tastes, but I did this strictly for comparison and to see the response to such cosmetic editing. This was done simply through my Apple Photos application, which now comes with almost as much editing tools as Photoshop (which I also have), These were all very small adjustments in many categories, e.g Light: Brilliance, Highlights and Contrast all in decimal amounts. I altered the RGB curve via the color graph slightly, sharpened the Intensity and edges and voila, my results. I liked your original soft effect, this is only to compare another editing possibility, in this case becoming more intensely dramatic.