Crawling around in the sprigs with your supertele lens is both fun and a good exercise! The idea is of course to achieve nice OOF areas and maybe also a minor part in focus. I try to compose these images, but of course there is some trial and error, and a bit of luck is also needed to come away with a keeper.
I like this one. It is cropped somewhat and the colors has been adjusted in post-processing, but the OOF and IF are out-of-camera.
Specific Feedback Requested
Any comments are welcome!
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
f/4, 1/400, ISO 200, 300 mm (600 mm equiv.), Olympus lens 300 mm, Olympus camera OM-D E-M1X (mft system)
Wonderful energy in this beautiful photo, Ola. Love the colors and mostly the little leaf which is in focus seems to be shouting, ālook at me!ā Nicely done.
I consider myself a fun of your work by now Ola, and further than that I have come to recognise your style, and tend to identify your photos in the gallery, before I know they are yours. This was the case here, I saw the photo and thought āthis could be Olaāā¦ and it is Your photography is so intimate and personal ā¦ and it takes us on a journey
These are much harder to to do than they look, but you did a wonderful job with DOF and selective focus on this one Ola. The colors may not be true to life, but I think they work well to create an nice mood and ambiance in the image.
This is a matter of personal taste, but Iām not as enthusiastic about he composition. To me that one leaf on the right is so intriguing, but the left half of the image keeps pulling me away from the leaf. I would prefer to see an alternate composition that concentrates on the right half of the image as originally presented. Here is what I was thinkingā¦
Nikos, I am very glad that you like my images. Thanks for telling. No fan club yet, though!
Ed, I have noted that you at several times when commenting on NPN postings have tried to find/extract the core of the image, and crop away the rest that is not really needed. So also here. I think that that is of great help for me to expand my thinking on images and by myself also try to find out what I think are the important subjects in an image, and what could be leaft out.
Of course āwhats not really neededā means different things to different people, and often there is no ārightā answer. But for me personally, I view critiquing other peopleās images at NPN as an opportunity to think outside the box. I see images from other people who have ideas, styles and approaches that are different from my own. In some ways this make it easier for me to think about what makes images work better, and why. Over time, NPN has led me down the path of striving to simplify my images. I think it creates more clarity in what I am trying to say with my work. I like to look for the 1 or 2 things that really make images work, and find ways to emphasize them more.
Not everyone would agree with the suggestion that I gave you. But I think specific comments on a specific image are not the true value of NPN critique. Rather it is more the cumulative effect of seeing recurring themes in comments on lots of images over time. For me, simplification and getting to the āessenceā of the image is an important recurring theme. Your image is quite fine as presented, but the comment may help you with other images, because it makes you think about the choices other people might make.
Wow, is this beautifully done Ola! The colors or colorcast is simply so inviting. This is soooo hard to pull off. I have tried it many times and itās not necessarily something you can see in camera. It almost has to be imagined. So for you to get this incredible image, you must have imagined the scene while taking this. Andā¦ you were able to get a little bit of exercise during the process. If this were mine, Iād frame it and hang it where people can cherish it.
@David_Haynes thanks for your kind comment. Glad you liked the image. Regarding your proposal of printing the image, that may in fact be the case. I have just bought a good printer to take the next step in my development as a hobby photographer, now also learning how to produce reasonable good prints.
Your photography is so intimate and personal ā¦ and it takes us on a journey 
