Results and Feedback for the "Separation" Weekly Photography Assignment

[keithsnell]

Thank you to everyone that participated in this assignment.  I loved seeing the variety and creativity of the images you submitted.  

The guidelines for this assignment were to compose an image while controlling the physical distance and depth of field between the foreground and background elements in order to separate the primary subject from the background and provide the impression of a 3-dimensional scene.
 
I loved the whimsical (and philosophical) nature of Jaime's am I me? image.  I guessed that Jamie's intent was to convey the reflection as being more "real" than the actual object (based on his comment that "Too often I get separated from myself, so much so that my mirror-image thinks that I am him.")  Although the colors made for an interesting and artistic presentation, I thought that the more "real" the presentation of the reflection, the more it would emphasize his point.  Therefore, I corrected the white balance using a blue photo filter in Photoshop, bumped up the contrast just a bit, and added just a small touch of selective sharpening to the reflection.  

am i me?
Photographed by Jaime Dorotan (girod)

am I me?  
Photographed by Jaime Dorotan, color corrected by Keith

Alan's image Just like so many others! was a great example of a well defined foreground subject in front of a softly defined background that provided context without being too distracting. It's an interesting commentary on how many photographers approach their photography.  

Just like so many others!
Photographed by Alan Albrecht (Ribot)

Lars' He's Looking At You Kid image is a great example of how we can use limited depth of field (separation) to emphasize the eyes.  We don't really notice that the body of the cat is relatively soft, it's those eyes that captivate us and hold our attention.  I would probably have tried to avoid the blown highlights in the background, but given the prominence of the eyes, the background doesn't detract from the image too much.  Good job Lars.

He`s Looking At You Kid
Photographed by Lars

Becky's Simply Separated Dew Drops is a wonderfully refreshing image, especially in the heat of the summer.  In this case, I might have tried aligning the front element of the lens with the plane of the web, thus allowing the entire web to fall within the depth of field of the lens.  (If you keep the edges of the web at the same distance from the lens as the center, then the whole web should be sharply in focus.)   I have no idea though if the background would have allowed Becky to shift her position in order to align the focus plane, while still keeping the web offset against the dark trees in the background.  It's something to consider next time photographing a similar scene.  Even so, we can overlook the soft edges of the web since the center is sharp, and it's a refreshing image of one of nature's wonders.  Good job using a large aperture to help separate the subject from the background Becky.

simply seperated dew drops
Photographed by Becky Jenner

Marilyn's Yellow Cleome/Bee Plant Flower image had wonderful separation from the background.  This was a challenging image because the red channel started clipping so much earlier than the rest of the image, and prevented Marilyn from exposing the image any brighter without clipping the red channel and loosing data.  In this case, the best course of action is often to protect the color channels from clipping during the exposure (so Marilyn's capture was spot on) and to correct the image in post processing.   I used a curves adjustment in Photoshop to bring up the exposure on the midtones while still protecting the brightest areas from clipping.  I did this by opening the curves dialog, placing my cursor over the darkest area on the flower that I wanted to lighten, noting where this area was on the curve, and then dragging that area of the curve upwards until those tones had the appropriate brightness.  While I had the image open I applied a very small amount of selective sharpening to the flower.  This was a wonderful composition Marilyn, perfectly captured.  It just required that the midtones be brightened a bit during post processing.

Yellow Cleome/Bee Plant Flower
Photographed by Marilyn McKinney

Yellow Cleome/Bee Plant Flower
Photographed by Marilyn McKinney, curves adjustment by Keith

Marilyn's Separation of cultures and times image was another nicely composed and perfectly exposed image, with a different take on "separation."  Nicely done Marilyn.

Separation of cultures and times
Photographed by Marilyn McKinney

Michele's It's what we do image was one of the most creative of the bunch, and the well deserved selection for Peoples' Choice.  Very creative (and well executed) Michele!

It's what we do!
People's Choice
Photographed by Michele Bollhalder

As I mentioned in the gallery, I tried to use both light and distance (depth of field) to separate the flowers from the background for my Unknown Flower image. I would have preferred a softer background with a wider aperture, but had to stop down a bit to get all three flowers acceptably sharp.

Unknown Flower
Photographed by Keith

When I composed my Rose image, I first made a conscious decision about what the most important areas were, so that I could orient the camera so the focus plane intersected those points on the flower.  I decided the most important portions of the image were the area in the center of the rose where the small petals spiraled together (this is where my eye was naturally drawn to) and the edges of the petals on the left side of the rose.  I guessed that if I could keep these two areas sharp, I would be able to let the other areas fall slightly outside the focus plane without them appearing too soft.   This was a small rose, so I was quite close in order to fill the frame and therefore the depth of field was very narrow.  I positioned my body to shade the background, and then used a cable release and mirror lockup, waiting until a lull in the wind to snap the exposure.

Rose
Photographed by Keith

I thought Rebecca's Suspended image was a wonderful composition, with the defocused background providing a nice backdrop and context for the web.  The light filtering through the trees helped set the scene and the feel of the forest, while the light on the web helped separate it from the darker background.  Nicely composed.

Suspended
Photographed by Rebecca

Rebecca's Butterfly image was a nice capture of a beautiful butterfly, with very nice light.  I thought however that the background, which was higher contrast than the foreground, was a bit too distracting in this image.   I might have tried shooting this image with a cable release or self timer and then attempting to shade the background with my body to reduce the prominence of the background in relation to the subject.

Butterfly
Photographed by Rebecca

Another tactic might have been to crop the image to remove the highest contrast areas in the background.  Like this:

Butterfly
Photographed by Rebecca, cropped by Keith

Rebecca's Hang in there image was another wonderful composition, with a nicely blurred background that complemented the colors in the butterfly.  This was an image that came together very well, with the shape of the leaves complementing the shape of the butterfly, and the overall symmetry of the image adding to its impact.  This was another very nicely composed image, and Rebecca did a nice job using light and depth of field to provide separation between the foreground and background.  I've awarded this image Editor's Choice for Artistic Merit.

Hang in there
Editor's Choice for Artistic Merit
Photographed by Rebecca

Lars' Separation4 image was a nice macro shot of an interesting subject.  This subject was nicely separated from the background, with wonderfully sharp detail in the snail.  Very nicely captured Lars, with very precise positioning of the focus plane.

separation4
Photographed by Lars

Lars' Separation1 image was another wonderfully creative image.  I think Lars is having lots of fun with his new wide angle lens.  This was a great perspective Lars, and a wonderful example of the creative possibilities.

Separation1
Photographed by Lars

I thought Lars' Separation online image was one of the best examples of separation, with a foreground that really popped from the background.  I also liked the use of linear perspective, which gave the image even more depth.  Very nicely done Lars!  I've selected this image as Editor's Choice for Technical Merit.

Separation online
Editor's Choice for Technical Merit
Photographed by Lars

Rick's image of Very expensive shotguns was nicely composed, and he very wisely chose a large aperture in an attempt to separate the subjects from the background.  This image is a great example of how less magnification (shooting from further away or with a wider angle lens) will result in more depth of field compared to the same scene photographed with more magnification.  Rick might have been able to get a bit more separation by stepping further back from the subject and using a longer telephoto lens.  All in all this was a nice composition, and a great illustration that less magnification on the subject will result in more depth of field.

Very expensive shotguns
Photographed by Rick Pepin

Chris' images of Uncle David and Grandma were great examples of using a wide to medium aperture to provide nice separation between a portrait subject and the background, while still providing enough of a background image to give context to the portrait.  I think Chris did a great job capturing the personalities of both of his subjects.

Uncle David
Photographed by Chris Franklin

Grandma
Photographed by Chris Franklin

Thank you again to everyone that participated in this assignment.  I enjoyed seeing your images, and your creativity keeps me inspired.  

Viewers are encouraged to respond to this thread describing why you like a particular image, or think it was particularly successful at meeting the guidelines of the assignment.

Keith

[Michele]

Thanks everyone.  I took quite a few of these shots because of the angle of the filter was hitting one word above or one word below in the dictionnary until I  finally got what it was I wanted.

Keith, once again, very cool assignment.   I am enjoying these assignments so much and I appreciate all the work involved.

Jaime, yours is so sweet and I agree so much with Rebecca's comment about the background image being in focus more than the foreground.  Normally, I don't like it that much but it works really well with this image.  I also love the more natural look after the correction was made to it.

I got to say...  I like Marilyn's photo before the touch-up.  The flower, I agree, looks much more defined and prettier in the touch-up, however, I find the lighter coloring in the background more distracting to the flower and now I noticed the stems much more.  I think the darker version is more effective.  Of course, that is just personal taste.  

I loved Rebecca's photo "hang in there", it was really cool.  It is just one of those moments captured just right.

But most of all, Lars, thank you for giving me other ways at looking at my environment.   I like the photograph using the shovel to frame the shot.  You are one really creative guy!

[keithsnell]

Thanks everyone.  I took quite a few of these shots because of the angle of the filter was hitting one word above or one word below in the dictionnary until I  finally got what it was I wanted.

Keith, once again, very cool assignment.   I am enjoying these assignments so much and I appreciate all the work involved.

Jaime, yours is so sweet and I agree so much with Rebecca's comment about the background image being in focus more than the foreground.  Normally, I don't like it that much but it works really well with this image.  I also love the more natural look after the correction was made to it.

I got to say...  I like Marilyn's photo before the touch-up.  The flower, I agree, looks much more defined and prettier in the touch-up, however, I find the lighter coloring in the background more distracting to the flower and now I noticed the stems much more.  I think the darker version is more effective.  Of course, that is just personal taste.  

I loved Rebecca's photo "hang in there", it was really cool.  It is just one of those moments captured just right.

But most of all, Lars, thank you for giving me other ways at looking at my environment.   I like the photograph using the shovel to frame the shot.  You are one really creative guy!

Hi Michele,

Thank you for the feedback, especially on Marilyn's flower.  I worried after I posted the modified version that it was a little bit overdone, but didn't have enough time to go back and work on it again.  I think it is useful sometimes to post changes that show the "art of the possible" since it gives people an idea of how they might be able to "tweak" images in the future.  It would have been relatively easy to tone down the background back to it's original condition, and just modify the flower by using a layer mask.  Now that I look at the flower again this morning, I agree with your comments.

Thank you again to everyone that submitted images, and to all of you that commented on the images.  I love how you all help and encourage each other.

Keith

[Lars]

Thanks Michel -  Its alway nice to inspire people to try new ways.
All You guys in this community are so inspiring, creative and helpfull to each other and
with a pair of such inspiring leader like Keith and Rebecca all members makes fast improvement in every new  weekly assignments.

[marilyn]

I agree that this was a cool assignment and I was so impressed and inspired by the breadth of possibilities and interpretations that made their way onto the site.  I'd say the Spirit and inspiration of this community are alive and well.  Keith, as always, thanks for the comments and the time you take to play with images to help us re-imagine them.  In terms of the discussion about mine, I feel like I've really got to explore channels, and clipping and white balance more than ever - especially given this image and the mbira for the details assignment.  It's interesting to me that the original flower before I started messing with it seemed much more yellow, so I'm not sure what I did.  Now I'm wondering if this discussion may lead me into figuring out which rule I want to break for the current assignment....