The Center Of A Susan

Going for an effect with this one; a narrow DoF getting just the

center of the flower in focus. It turned out as I hoped, but I'd like

to know how it looks to other eyes. Any and all comments, critiques,

reactions welcome. Thanks for looking!

I like this photo very very much. Great contrast: black and yellow! Great job, congrats!

 

Best regards,

 

Sorina

Very nice David. I like your choice of DoF with the far as well as near petals falling outside of the CoC. The shadows on the petals do a great job of defining texture yet are soft and open with good detail. The background is a nice dark rich tone without falling off to pure black and has some good OOF elements breaking it up. The tilt of the Susan is creating a strong diagonal through the frame. I like that the stem is barely there visually it is serving the purpose of anchoring the flower but is doing so in a very subtle way. All of these elements contrive to make a very fine portrait of this flower.

 

The only comments I would make on the other side and there is of course always the other side :) would be that the yellow of the other flower running out of the frame in the bottom right corner pulls my eye out of the frame a bit. If this were a larger block of colour or was a bit darker it may have left me with a different reaction. The flower itself would seem in need of a tiny bit more breathing room bottom and left side. When you arrive at this level of proficiency with a photo, critique tends to become about quite minor issues and also becomes very much a matter of personal taste.So as the saying goes take my words " with a grain of salt " After all last week I uploaded a photo of a mushroom where I quite deliberately cut off both sides of the cap and it did not take long to solicit a comment that it would look better if I had not done that.

 

These cheery little blooms are always the last to pack it in for the winter and even up here at the 45th latitude, they are still blooming away in the fields alongside of the road.

Sorina, Thank you very much for looking and you positive comments. Glad you like the pic!

 

Gordon, Such a thorough and thoughtful critique. I really appreciate that you took all that time, and your observations are so precise and well described that you always help me better define aspects of my own photos and learn better ways of describing. Agreed that much comes down to a matter of taste, but that is so colored by the palate and experience of the taster.

 

Glad you like the pic, and I do see what you're talking about with the little out-of-focus piece of another flower in the right corner... I couldn't decide if it helped balance, broke up the darkness in a positive way, or was distracting. I think I'll take it out and see how it looks. As for the flower needing some more room, I can see that, and this really does get into the individual taste and perception area. My thought in having it so close to the edge was to make a stronger effect of the petals pulling one's eye into the frame and giving the flower a bit more depth as it is almost off the page. Actually, it might be interesting to play with having just a bit of the leftward petals out of the frame, but that may be taking it too far. Like you, I mostly like to try and do most of the picture making in the camera, though I'm not at all beyond playing with a filter here and there.

 

Well, I'm obviously windy this morning, and appreciative of your attention and good ideas. Regards, David

That bit about taste I had to mention only that once, just so we both are on the same page. I'll assume from this point onwards that this assumption now 'goes without saying'

Recent events are teaching me to be more certain of how I say, what I say. One of the joys of becoming familiar with each others work as well as critiquing style is that eventually we can, cut to the chase, without all those extra qualifiers :)

Recent events... hmmm... instructive in many ways. As for things needing to be said or not, I appreciate your sensitivity, and be assured I am 100% confident that whatever you say about my work is motivated by your artistic vision, photographic expertise, and your strong desire for us to help each other grow. All that and your candor are things I count on and like a lot about you! Warm regards, David

I wanted to say wonderful that you didn't crop the yelow out of the right corner. That would have been wrong in my mind.

 

The middle of the flower looks SOOOOO sharp and the dof is excellent.

 

Ok, that is all my mind can say. :) 1am yep

 

night

Thanks so much for stopping by, even so late and tired. I always appreciate your reactions, no matter if brief or not.

 

Sleep well!

 

Regards, David

but, figures my fingers and brain are working wrong today (blah). So much to say and words are scrambled. I can only say don't change anything.

It's a deal. I won't change anything *at least* till I hear from you!

 

;-}

Another very beautiful image.

 

Cheers!

Very nicely done. I agree with Gordon about the yellow in the corner, which is such a minor point that it's hardly worth mentioning, but there you go...

 

 

I like how you have carefully managed the view, directing it toward the center and allowing the eye to meander around, almost like focusing on the center of a pinwheel.

I appreciate you taking the time to stop by and to comment. I've had mixed feelings and mixed reviews about the lower right corner, but that's what it's all about. Glad you like the DoF effect. Doing it was fun and an interesting study to do. I appreciate your comments. Regards, David