Carolyn Todd-Larson, PPSA, AFIAP
July 2021 - Cactus in Bloom Sedona Arizona
About the Image(s)
Technical: Sony DSC RX10 camera, lens 24-600 mm
Focal length: 41 mm is 35 mm equivalent
Exposure: 1/640 sec; f/4.0; ISO 100
Post processing: Lightroom adjustments, Nik Collection Color Effects Pro Contrast filter, sharpening
Spent a week in Sedona Arizona and found this cactus in foreground with Thunder Mountain in background. Thought it made a more interesting photo than just red rock. But would value your opinion as to whether or not this is a good travel photo for competition.
This round’s discussion is now closed!
4 comments posted
Good Photo. Maybe it is only me , but the background, though blurred but not blurred enough, given the fact that foreground and background have a similar color palette. Posted: 07/15/2021 13:49:54
Carolyn, it looks to me you used selective blurring to de-emphasize the background but the job is not complete because there are areas of the mountain that are still sharp. Also, natural depth of field would decrease gradually with the distance, while it looks like the blurring is done equally on the middle ground and the background. The image violates the PT definition in a number of ways. First, as a landscape it has no characteristic features that would let us recognize the place if we came across it. Secondly, the blurring makes it look a bit unnatural. I have often tried myself to fix problem images in post processing but it's hard to correct for a depth of field problem. The reason why the original image is probably sharp from front to back is that you set the lens at 35mm (equivalent). Did you experiment with longer settings of your telephoto lens and shooting from farther away, focussing on the cactus? Posted: 07/20/2021 15:28:17
I think the f/4.0 setting created some blurriness in the background. I didn't try to do selective blurring. Nor did I take a lot of different shots. I probably should have tried it with a higher f/stop like f/22 to get everything clear but I didn't. This is a pretty distinct and recognizable mountain in Sedona, but perhaps not for photo travel judges worldwide. So I will consider other Sedona red rock photos instead. Posted: 07/24/2021 12:22:39
Yes this image does not meet the travel definition as it does not have any characteristic features or cultural features to give it a sense of the place. It is a nice image and with some selective sharpening it could do well in the PID category. Posted: 07/24/2021 12:10:11