Blooming saguaro

This is my first attempt at a "nature close-up" in a while. Thanks

for your comments.

Is that a brussel sprout tree? :)

 

The first thing I'd do is crop the top a bit more. That white spot is a distraction. Also, if you could blend that light spot in the bottom right a bit more with the background.

 

It's an intersting composition... At first I was going to say that the stuff on the left takes away from the main subject, but looking at it more, it all goes together as very alien looking. I'm not sure if that made sense. I'm having trouble putting what I think of this one into words. Alien describes it best I guess. Looks like an alien world.

I think I would crop all of the mountains in the background out as well as most of the right side of the shot. I really do like the cactus needles on the left But they may be lacking a little maybe a little lite from the side would have added some more detail in the needles.

I don't find the red/pink colour very pleasant however I think the cactus is really interesting. Surreal. I find there is too much "dead" space to the right of the cactus and the green foliage at the top right of the frame takes my attention. Also the white of the sky is a little off-putting.

I do like this, but I agree about the crop at the top to take out the white. When I look at it without that, the pink tones, which bugged me at first, were much less off-putting. I do wish there was just a tad more room at the bottom, but that rock maybe why you cropped it there. Perhaps a crop so that the branch runs out the the pic rather than ending right on it? I do think that the cactus is an interesting subject.

Where do people find this stuff?

 

Lighting a bit flat, some fill-in flash would have worked if carefully handled.

 

There must be 50 or so angles for this plant did you get any more?

 

The crop could have been tighter, as the others say, but I still think there is a better viewpoint somewhere near.

 

Great subject - so unusual.

I agree exactly with what Tom McElvogue wrote, in all aspects, as well as with Drew's critique regarding the (poor) light. In agreement about a crop at the top and on the right.

Others:

1) the stones on the front right are a distraction too.

2) Subject is good, but the magenta really kills this image for me.

It would be a 4 in aesthetics for me, sorry, and a 7 in originality, because the subject itself is good, but I feel that we are missing an artistic interpretation of it. Example - among many possibities -: wait for a stunning light, take a 20 or 24mm lens, move a bit to the right, frame vertically, with cactus then sky as background - and highly saturated colors.

first off, i love the subject. i am a big fan of the spring desert bloom and would be there every spring if i could.

 

i would crop the image just a bit more on the top (to get rid of the sky) and the right (to remove the stone on the edge of frame. watch out for light spots that sit on the edges of your images. they tend to drag the eye to the edge. if you don't have any room to crop, you can try burning these spots in a bit, but if the are white it won't work.

 

i am always saying that my favorite light for exterior work is magic hour/ dramatic lighting. sometimes flat light works if there is some drama from another aspect, like color or form. since you have rather flat lighting here i don't mind the magenta cast so much. it is a nice contrast to the green buds and adds a sort of other worldly look that the desert often exhibits. i didn't read the details, and am wondering if it explains the color cast. the DOF is excellent. and the detail of the thorns and buds make a nice contrast as well.

 

if i were to try anything different it would be to come back at dawn/dusk to see if the light made this it more interesting.

My first reaction was to the flat light also. Waiting for full light and tighter composition I think.. (I'll not suggest flash as I've not learned to use it well myself yet.)

To my eye, this image has a tremendous amount of potential. First, though, I'd rotate it slightly clockwise (about five degrees) then crop it square, in order to focus attention on the blooms and not the desert around them. Then I would use a bit of dodging/burning/blurring/sharpening in Photoshop to encourage the viewer's eye to stay focused on the blooms and not wander off.

Assuming Christian's forebearance, I had a go at the image per the steps outlined above and came up with this version after maybe five minutes worth of tinkering in Photoshop. Personally, I rather like it ... what does everyone else think?

I uploaded the image I tweaked to one of my folders and indicated clearly that it wasn't mine. I hoped that people who stumbled across it wouldn't rate or comment upon it outside of the intended forum but I found the following comment had been added when I checked it a few minutes ago...

 

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So, tell your friend, that I like it very much! Unconventional perspective (amongst so many boring pics of flowers and cactus in the world.., sharp and good color work, good color toning for background...interestingly & intelligent composed: Why doesn't he/she want to join? I wished I could do a foto as fine as this...

 

-- Heidrun Zywietz

 

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BTW, Heidrun gave it a 10 for originality and 9 for aesthetics.

Jeffery - For future reference, you can attach a picture to a comment without loading it into your folder. After you confirm your comment, it goes to a page that lets you upload a file.

 

By the way, although I liked the original photo, I like yours better. That cropping does really help it.

Thanks all for the comments.

 

I agree that a crop works better here than the full frame. I miss the highlighted spines, though.

 

Re: the magenta tone, it was a pretty magenta scene, so not much choice there.

 

And to Boris and Julia...Hi!

Hi!

 

 

I agree with the comments about this needing a tighter crop to make this a more interesting image however I like the magenta tone. Great subject matter.

the collieflour cactus. I think it might be a good thing to make the pictyure tighter around the calliflours by cutting the sides but this si just me.