mariposa84 Loc: Rochester NY

I haven't posted in a while life has been too crazy but I would like some honest Critique please. Im an ammateur in every sense of the word but I am shooting in RAW and Using the manual settings this was taken with natural light using a 35mm lens f/ 2.2 1/60sec ISO 160 I have other shots but because of the rules i can only post one and so i will start with this one one i guess lol.
Thanks ahead of time for looking and your comments.

(Download)

Nightsky Loc: Augusta, GA USA

Shooting at f/2.2 you have a very limited depth of field, and it appears that only a couple of petals on the flower near the back at the 2:00 position are actually in focus. The rest of the image is either soft or largely out of focus. Perhaps since you are shooting against an uncluttered background you should try this one again with a smaller aperture.

Composition wise - for me the frame is to lopsided, all the weight is in the lower left corner. Tilting the frame dose not help. Cropping off the bottom tiny bit of petals doesn't work well. If you are going to crop then make it look like you meant to do it, not like it's an accident.

Hope this helps...

Bill

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

The hint of stem and vase is very pleasing at that aperture. However, I'd like to see the foremost petals in focus rather than the ones further back.

I love the simplicity of the composition, the perspective, and the empty space, but cutting off the flower at the bottom edge of the frame really bothers me :)

MtnMan Loc: ID

DOF too shallow leading to OOF in front. Use f-stop of 16 at least.

Also need to have some free space around the bottom of the flower and get the whole thing. It is OK sometimes to cut off things like parts of people's heads but it needs to be deliberate.

mariposa84 Loc: Rochester NY

Yes thank you i did not crop it this way unfortunately the angle i was at was on my tippy toes on a step ladder, I am short and the only "nice" wall area was for me to put the vase on top of something so i needed more height .... this being said i was shaky and i focused in the wrong spot. As mentioned i do have other photos some that i wasn't on a step ladder :) as for the aperature i noticed that as i went to a smaller aperature the flower became much darker and almost black so i took it at that higher aperature to let more of the natural light get to it so we could actually see the photo. Yet a failed attempt ... its fine i will keep trying :) Thank you for your feedback it is truly appreciated.

mariposa84 Loc: Rochester NY

Thank you for looking sorry about cutting off the flower i didn't intend to as mentioned earlier this picture was taken on my tippy toes on a step stool. So probably as i pressed the shutter button i moved just a hair. :(

mariposa84 Loc: Rochester NY

yes i am sorry the front was my intention but i missed my mark ... thanks you for looking and comenting.