Tulip Magnolia - The Heart of the Matter

Comments/critiques welcome. Thanks.

Beautiful and sharp(detail) with just enough softness in the petals..Color-just lovely Sandra. Great Image.....Gail

Very nice shot with great color. The focus on the center of the flower is perfect, and it is such an interesting subject. While the petal at the top right of the picture adds a certain interest it also bothers me because it keeps pulling me out of the picture. The colors are very delicate and inviting. -- Charles

Hi Charles -

 

I found your comment about the petal on the right fascinating because it has exactly the opposite effect for me. I see it as cradling the center and keeping interest and the viewer's focused on the center of the flower. Maybe we'll get a discussion going here - I'd love to know how others react. BTW, there are two other picture in this series of four floating around the critique forum and my Magnolia portfolio. They are a little different from this one. Thanks so much for commenting!

I like how you captured this delicate beauty Sandra, the stamens are really impressive. Compliments and regards, Chris

Hi Chris-

Thank you for comments. I got this by shooting over 50 photos one day around my neighbor's tulip magnolia tree. It was a bit challenging because of the location and nature of the blooms. I used my Sigma 105 macro which allowed me to get closer than with my Nikon 60mm. I sacrificed some sharpness to max out the dof as these flowers are not at all uniform in shape and the pistil is usually fairly well recessed. I shot 1/60th @ f/19 with Nikon SB800 flash. I still shoot with a Nikon D100. Don't know the ISO. It was a challenge to get a decent photo; out of 50+ I kept five, which are in my portfolio in a folder called - "Magnolias."

Superb!

Thanks, Tony. This is a "golden oldie" - taken with my D100 and processed in CS3. I should throw it into LR and CS5 and see how it can be improved!