plumbago: What I like: the color, the detail in the petals Not too sure about: the composition and lighting I like the picture because this is one of my favorite flowers. Suggestions?

Milocat

What I like: the color, the detail in the petals
Not too sure about: the composition and lighting

I like the picture because this is one of my favorite flowers.
Suggestions?

gessman Loc: Colorado

Milocat wrote:

What I like: the color, the detail in the petals
Not too sure about: the composition and lighting

I like the picture because this is one of my favorite flowers.
Suggestions?

I can't see anywhere suggestions are needed. Very nice. It didn't take you long after all. Good focus, composition, dof, just about like it should be.

lishareading Loc: St. Cloud, MN

It's gorgeous, especially the depth-of-field

bobmielke Loc: Portland, OR

Milocat wrote:

What I like: the color, the detail in the petals
Not too sure about: the composition and lighting

I like the picture because this is one of my favorite flowers.
Suggestions?

Rotate the whole photo 90 degrees to the right.

Milocat

gessman wrote:

I can't see anywhere suggestions are needed. Very nice. It didn't take you long after all. Good focus, composition, dof, just about like it should be.

Thank you. Flowers never get tired of posing and they don't run away. I'm working on my tendency to dead center everything even when I'm trying not to. I'm using a new lens, the 50mm 1.8 canon.

Milocat

Rotate 90 degrees to the right like this? I've got an aversion to portrait orientation. I don't like the way it appears on the monitor. I need to rethink that position.

bobmielke Loc: Portland, OR

Milocat wrote:

gessman wrote:

I can't see anywhere suggestions are needed. Very nice. It didn't take you long after all. Good focus, composition, dof, just about like it should be.

Thank you. Flowers never get tired of posing and they don't run away. I'm working on my tendency to dead center everything even when I'm trying not to. I'm using a new lens, the 50mm 1.8 canon.

Here's an easy way to avoid that "bullseye tendency. If you have a camera with multiple focus points in your viewfinder set one on the 2/3 mark before you compose. That way you are automatically composing when you place the subject on the focus point.

bobmielke Loc: Portland, OR

Milocat wrote:

Rotate 90 degrees to the right like this? I've got an aversion to portrait orientation. I don't like the way it appears on the monitor. I need to rethink that position.

IMHO that's about perfect composition and much more pleasing to view.

gessman Loc: Colorado

That'd sure look nice hanging on a wall somewhere. I'm with you on the portrait orientation 'til it gets a frame on it. I just don't like pics running up the middle of my monitor. There may be some folks visit us later today who will want to talk about what you ought to do with all that empty space up top. I wouldn't listen to 'em if it was my image. I got that on a recent flower submission so I came back with another, two cropped in portrait, two cropped in landscape, same shot, and it threw several folks for a complete loop when I asked them to pick the most pleasing. Our minds do funny stuff to us.

johnrennie Loc: North Florida

I think I like the landscape better than the portrait. I like the composition and the colors, my only input is that I prefer softer shadows. When I shoot floral in bright sun I typically set up a reflector behind me to cast a shadow on the subject to smooth out the harsh light. Overall, its a very nice image.

nikondaddy Loc: Mayfield,Kentucky

A tighter crop onb the plant an leave out that empty space which begs for attention but has no right to none.

Milocat

johnrennie wrote:

I think I like the landscape better than the portrait. I like the composition and the colors, my only input is that I prefer softer shadows. When I shoot floral in bright sun I typically set up a reflector behind me to cast a shadow on the subject to smooth out the harsh light. Overall, its a very nice image.

That's what I was thinking, but I didn't formulate the idea as well as you did. The light was little bright on the flowers. I have never worked with reflectors but I can see the value.

Milocat

bobmielke wrote:

Here's an easy way to avoid that "bullseye tendency. If you have a camera with multiple focus points in your viewfinder set one on the 2/3 mark before you compose. That way you are automatically composing when you place the subject on the focus point.

Thanks for the tip!

tilde531 Loc: Seaford Delaware

In this case, the portrait orientation is fab, imo.
And I'm with others that say leave the space. If you crop any of that out, then the composition will be ruined.

Right now (although this is not exactly what the "Rule of Thirds" means!), your subject occupies the bottom 2/3 of your photo and is nice and sharp and beautifully colorful, begging the eye to pay attention.

The top 1/3 which represents the blurred background is not distracting enough to make the eye linger... it returns once again to the flower before moving on.

For me and MY un-trained eye; this is great :thumbup:

Papabear Loc: Pennsylvania

I am in total agreement with tilde531. The 1/3 at the top of the vertical image does not detract from the overall composure. The image is so strong, it just commands your eye to it, trained eye or not.

I am a retired architect, and for my whole life, its been about proportions and getting things pleasing to the eye, and this image is quite pleasing. I like everything about it, and would not change a thing.