Please comment, Focal point and DOF

[Spriter]

I am still trying to get this right. If you could give me your opinion?

Thanks

[ridicwilco]

well the water bubble appears out of focus

[edbayani11]

your subject, the water droplet is in the right place if you apply the rule of thirds or the diagonal method. the lens opening that you used is just right to produce the right dof. what i find lacking is the lighting. i don't know if it is my monitor but it is dark overall. the subject bubble is lost in this kind of lighting. it can be corrected by proper post processing by accentuating the bubble and getting your black and white pints in order. it seems your white point, if you look at the histogram of levels is not in the right place.

i hope this helps.

[Alex Wilson]

I like it. The highlight on the water appears sharp, that's important. Flow and shapes of it is very nice.

I think I'd like it a little better with about half the bottom between the drop cropped out. The focal point is a little too central.

[joaoandreqff]

The only problem for me is that's a little too dark. Focal point and DOF are fine, for me.

[Spriter]

what i find lacking is the lighting. i don't know if it is my monitor but it is dark overall. the subject bubble is lost in this kind of lighting. it can be corrected by proper post processing by accentuating the bubble and getting your black and white pints in order. it seems your white point, if you look at the histogram of levels is not in the right place.

i hope this helps.

You are quite right. I did create this problem in post-processing. The orginal image is better. Thanks for pointing this out.

While working on my technique, I find rather amazing the number of different items that needs to be reviewed in order to make a decent shot a good one. I guess some might have put together a checklist of things that are worth verifying....

Looking at the histogram, and considering the subject, it is too dark.

[Marko]

your subject, the water droplet is in the right place if you apply the rule of thirds or the diagonal method. the lens opening that you used is just right to produce the right dof. what i find lacking is the lighting. i don't know if it is my monitor but it is dark overall. the subject bubble is lost in this kind of lighting. it can be corrected by proper post processing by accentuating the bubble and getting your black and white pints in order. it seems your white point, if you look at the histogram of levels is not in the right place.

i hope this helps.

Bang on critique Ed, bang on. You're making my 'job' easier - many thanks!

All i want to add is look for bright elements in a scene. There's one in the background for example and it competes with the focal point.

[Mad Aussie]

Not much I could add to this I don't think. I agree with Ed's assessment and also with Marko's added 'distraction' comment although I don't think it's as big of a distraction as it is a secondary focal point which adds a bit of depth in this case. But that's certainly a subjective point.

I don't agree the droplet is out of focus, it looks fine to me and getting that dof to run along that textured leading line of the flower back to the droplet is very well done!

In terms of lighting I wonder if this is slightly under-exposed? It may just be the white/black point though as suggested. A tiny bit of contrast boost might help but I suspect the white point fix would achieve the same result.

[Alex Wilson]

Bang on critique Ed, bang on. You're making my 'job' easier - many thanks!

All i want to add is look for bright elements in a scene. There's one in the background for example and it competes with the focal point.

I'm not sure I totally agree -- the rule of thirds is a and hotspots are good generalizations, but you also get stacks of predictable images if that's all you shoot. Like all rules, they should be broken when there's good reason.

I do agree that you probably don't want the drop dead centre, nor right up on an edge, but try some different crops. The lower right side is pretty empty, but cropping that side moves the drop rather central. When an image has really obvious and pulling lines like this that direct the eye, it's a very good candidate to play loose with the rule of thirds.

As for hot spots, I think you are wrong. Actually, I'd want a bit of visual tension created by having some bright background areas -- with a very limited depth-of-field, you don't get the same level of distraction you get with a more focused image -- background elements can get a fair bit brighter and not be overly distracting because they lack any real detail. Keeping them as muted as you would for a focused image will result in a potentially boring shallow focus image.

[edbayani11]

hey, spriter, you are lucky because you are getting good 'critiques' from other members that will help you 'get it right'.
different interpretations of your work which is actually the second step in critiquing. the 'fun' part of critiquing. interpretation is a very personal thing and may differ greatly from someone else's. as you can see in the posts. the posts are all educated and intelligent expressions so, soak it all up. aren't you glad you are in this forum!