Little blue flower: Or is it periwinkle? What the heck is the name of this flower? Critique Please. Canon 6D Canon 50mm F1.8@F2.8 ISO 100 1/60 second hand held...

Nightski

Or is it periwinkle? What the heck is the name of this flower?
Critique Please.
Canon 6D
Canon 50mm F1.8@F2.8
ISO 100
1/60 second
hand held

Darkened Background, lightened center, move sat slider up one notch

(Download)

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Great placement, the flower immediately jumps to the front, the obvious subject, stands out wonderfully and clearly, wonderful soft bokeh background.
Love the sinuous purple curve behind it.
Great focus point and DOF.
The only nit that I could possibly have with it is that the leaves behind it are a bit ratty.
Very nice shot Sandra, well done.

Nightski

Thank you, lighthouse. Maybe next year I will see one like this that has nice leaves. I don't think we'll have any more rain now before the more extreme cold sets in next week. Then the flowers will be gone. I would like to get closer for this shot too. Fill my frame more. I had to crop much more than I am comfortable with.

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

Nightski wrote:

Or is it periwinkle? What the heck is the name of this flower?
Critique Please.
Canon 6D
Canon 50mm F1.8@F2.8
ISO 100
1/60 second
hand held

The finely focused, perfectly exposed, purest blue and yellow flower with delicate dew
serve to provide maximum impact, and the BG darker reds, deeper yellow, and greens further set the subject ahead as a jewel in a perfect display.

By slightly enlarging the download and moving the flower to different positions I find several other pleasing compositions, but none that improve on your present image.

Your eye found a beautiful, dew-bedecked flower against an unimprovable BG.
Can't ask for more before squeezing the shutter!

impact: 4
Tech. 3.5
comp: 4
11.5/15

Dave in SD

xxredbeardxx Loc: San Clemente CA.

Nightski wrote:

Or is it periwinkle? What the heck is the name of this flower?
Critique Please.
Canon 6D
Canon 50mm F1.8@F2.8
ISO 100
1/60 second
hand held

What a delicate flower. Love the vibrant blue in it.
The water droplet's really add to the beauty.
For a back drop it looks like a water color painting
behind it. Is that what they call DOF?

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

xxredbeardxx wrote:

... Is that what they call DOF?

DOF just means Depth Of Field.
The sharp in focus area of the photo.
But some people incorrectly use the term to try to describe the exact opposite of what it is - they use it to try to define the bokeh (the quality of the out of focus (OOF) areas of the photo)

I think what you are referring to is this - the bokeh.

xxredbeardxx Loc: San Clemente CA.

lighthouse wrote:

DOF just means Depth Of Field.
The sharp in focus area of the photo.
But some people incorrectly use the term to try to describe the exact opposite of what it is - they use it to try to define the bokeh (the quality of the out of focus (OOF) areas of the photo)

I think what you are referring to is this - the bokeh.

Ah.. ok. Bokeh. That's exactly what I meant.
I'm still learning photography language.
Thank you.

Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

Beautiful Shot Sandra. I can't find to much to change in this shot. You brought the flower out of the back ground perfectly and the back ground is to die for. The only thing I would try is to crop the sides a little to show the flower off more.
Erv

Nightski

Uuglypher wrote:

The finely focused, perfectly exposed, purest blue... (show quote)

Dave, why the 3.5 on Technical. I have my own ideas, but as this is an area I am very much trying to improve on, I would appreciate your thoughts. I did give my settings. My 50mm has about 1 1/2 feet minimum focusing distance. I think I could have been a little closer to the flower, filling the frame more and then not having to crop so much. Is that what you saw? Or should I have used my macro? Of cours that would have required more DOF and a lower shutter speed and you how outdoor flowers are. No matter how still it is, they move.

Nightski

Thank you, Mark. I am glad you appreciated the bokeh. :-) Thanks so much Erv, I appreciate your comments. And thanks again for remembering my birthday last year. :-)

Leon S Loc: Minnesota

The impact is obviously there. The color is very interesting. The bokeh is well used to isolate the subject. However I don't understand how anyone could say that the subject is in focus. There is so small a dof in this picture that most of the subject is fuzzy. Take a look at the flower's pistol. I remember other posts similar to this situation receiving harsh critics for the same reason. This picture could be improved by opening up the dof more. Just my opinion.

Nightski

Leon S wrote:

The impact is obviously there. The color is very interesting. The bokeh is well used to isolate the subject. However I don't understand how anyone could say that the subject is in focus. There is so small a dof in this picture that most of the subject is fuzzy. Take a look at the flower's pistol. I remember other posts similar to this situation receiving harsh critics for the same reason. This picture could be improved by opening up the dof more. Just my opinion.

Thank you, Leon. Lighthouse plays with very shallow DOF's as evidenced in his daisy shot. I personally think it's the best flower shot I've ever seen. I've been trying to emulate it ever since he posted it and have come close, but not quite.

I do have focus on a very small part of the flower, but I think that what you are pointing to, is the thing that bothers me about this shot. I do wish I had taken it with a little greater DOF. I was trying to keep my ISO at 100, but 200 would not have hurt the image quality at all with my camera. The flower may look a little muddled from the way I pushed the saturation so that it wouldn't look so flat here. I also had to crop quite a bit. That's never good for detail. I'm on to something now .. maybe I'll get another chance before the bitter cold sets in next week. Maybe it will rain again. :-)

Oh ... here's lighthouse's daisy ... he's probably so tired of me bringing this up ... lol ... but I just love this shot!!

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-170584-1.html

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Excellent and unusual mix of colours and good mix of sharp/soft. If it was mine I'd try to soften the graininess of the BG.

I'll definitely have to book my place on that sock recovery program. I can see mine getting blown off on a regular basis :) .

Nightski

R.G. wrote:

Excellent and unusual mix of colours and good mix of sharp/soft. If it was mine I'd try to soften the graininess of the BG.

I'll definitely have to book my place on that sock recovery program. I can see mine getting blown off on a regular basis :) .

Thank you RG ... I appreciate the thoughtful comment. Could I email it to you and you can play with the background and if you feel like removing the dead ugly spot, that would be great! :-)

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Nightski wrote:

Thank you RG ... I appreciate the thoughtful comment. Could I email it to you and you can play with the background and if you feel like removing the dead ugly spot, that would be great! :-)

There's a dead ugly spot?? I must have been blinded by the picture's charms.

I'd love to have a go at it :thumbup: .