gessman Loc: Colorado

Are you working on mastery of the fine art of the double entendre or is it just my imagination?

I didn't pluck any pedals but I was right in there where the action is. May have moved a pedal with my lens. These are all the same shot cropped and rotated 90 deg up. I couldn't tell which I preferred so I thought I'd submit it to those much more sensitive than myself. I appreciate your view. Thanks.

I hope your pain goes away soon.

gessman Loc: Colorado

Thank you for doing that. I like the light background but then I like the black one too. I think it works well both ways. I'm a high contrast saturated color leaner but I can be swayed. Mostly I'm negotiable. Thanks again.

Ugly Jake Loc: Sub-Rural Vermont

I think I would have to go with #1 - these ARE the male parts of the flower, but the vertical ones seem too suggestive, somehow.

gessman Loc: Colorado

Thanks ThomasS. I think if I had to take one under the hazards of a threat on my life that's the one I'd go with too. May be just 'cause it's on top and closest to the door but... I don't honestly know what caused the background to go so dark. I have a big tree with a dark trunk just off of my deck and it could be that I was aiming at that.

gessman Loc: Colorado

That may have been what tilde was sayin'. You don't think it's possible that someone's been slippin' my lilies a little viagra do you? Shucks, I rotated that rascal in all directions and felt so sorry for the poor lil' lily when I aimed it down that I couldn't wait to rotate it somewhere else. After that, it became immediately obvious that this was definitely a "southpaw." Maybe that's just because that's the way it was when first we met. It's nice to see you Mr. Ugly Jake. May I call you ugly? I don't mean to agree but I like to be on a first name basis when possible. Thanks for your input.

fo-toe

Lovely, crisp shot. Re cropping or composing: There's a rule of thumb in composition (art, photography, anything visual) known as the "60-30-10" rule. It applies to darks-lights-midtones, aka the blacks-whites-grays values in an image. One of those values should be about 60% of the image; a second value (doesn't matter which) should be 30%; the remaining value (again, doesn't matter which) should be 10%.
Therefore, I much prefer the first one, because your light flower is 60%, black background is about 30% (that is, it covers about half the space of the white/light value) and the stamens, or midtones, are 10%. The second image seems cropped too closely; the dark is far less than 30%, and the light value overpowers it, imho, seeming crowded. It always amazes me how the best images follow this rule, at least in Western art.
The image with the white background isn't as dramatic, but it follows the rule; here the pink becomes the 60% midtone, and the white/light is 30%.
Re vertical vs horizontal, I prefer the horiz, but it really is a matter of personal taste. I think they both work; both are beautiful shots with rich color and depth.

gessman Loc: Colorado

Thank you and it's good to know about 60-30-10. I hadn't come across that up to this point and I sincerely appreciate you sharing that with me/us. Thank you also for the compliments. I appreciate them too.

myts10 Loc: SE Ohio

I like the color and background. I think the composition in number 3 is the best. To me it does not look natural sideways.

gessman Loc: Colorado

Thank you. I appreciate your opinion.

ThomasS Loc: Colorado

Vicodin does make the purdy flowers nicer, doesn't it?

gessman Loc: Colorado

I hear it can light up a whole room. Never tried it. I have a high pain threshold and a lot of breakthrough pain which works hand in hand with my urge to not want to sleep. Vicodin might interfere with that relationship and I don't want that.

ThomasS Loc: Colorado

gessman,

Sorry. I was responding to the woman who said she had just taken a new pain pill and it was starting to kick in. She was probably kidding and I sure am. How do you get these responses to go to the right place? I responded directly to her input. When I see where my responses end up sometimes, it makes me sound like a moron. Of course, some people may think I am anyway.

gessman Loc: Colorado

If I want to simply respond to the whole scene I hit "reply." When I want to reply to a specific post, I hit "quote reply" and then it includes the post you're responding to. I knew and what you were responding to but I sort of figured she's zonked by now, living on the east coast so I thought since it was my post originally, I respond just to keep you from feeling ignored. Everything's cool.

Deetle51 Loc: Grafton ,WV

IMHO a baby blue or pastel blue would highlight these pretty in pink flowers . As for which is best they all seem equal but I agree with the thoughts about more space as compared to the tight shot on the flower. Pink seems hard for me to get the detail you were able to get with yours. But I keep trying thx for the lesson.

gessman Loc: Colorado

Thanks. You wanna put some blue behind and put it up here to show us what you have in mind, shade, and all. Now, I'm headed for the rack. You're sure up late there in WV. You act like a man who has the day off tomorrow. Congratulations and goodnight.