flowers - interpretive ii - up close Nocturne in F

Very nice bokeh. Regards.

Leszek - thanks.

Hi Tony, this is beautifully captured and composed and that bokeh is icing on the cake! Congrats on a lovely image. Best wishes. Sarah.

Hola Tony.

Bonita composicion, el color es excelente. Gran trabajo.

Un cordial saludo, Joaquín.

Tony,

  Wow...beautiful capture with wonderful colors, reflection & composition.  Thanks for sharing.  Take care, Patsy

Sarah  - many thanks for your kind words.

Joaquin - Hola and thanks.

Patsy - really appreciate your visit.

It is good to get your support at a time when a few personal matters are going in my life and even getting down on my photography. I think I am my own harshest critic.  Maybe I need a new camera to re-stoke the fires.

tony,  most certainly no frogs legs here!  just a really well structured image full of interest and charm.  the smoky b/g is just simply wonderful,  as is flower and leafs reflection on the water.  was going to suggest a wee bit off the top, but that would lose that gorgeous pink hue.  i think you have created a winner here, lovely lovely work and a real pleasure to view!

Lovely presentation.Very game to leave so much room above flower but it works.

I can only concur with the previous comments, impeccable composition and dof. I particularly like the reflections in the foreground, and the overall colour balance.

Compliments!

Alf

Roger - Thanks. Phew! (*_*). I got in a bit closer and did a landscape version without the pink hue at the top. It is a very different image which focuses on the flower with minimal influence from its surroundings. I decided to go with this one instead.

John - thanks. Normally I would not leave that amount on top but the pink hue got to me and then I rationalized and thought the hue complimented the flower color - well almost.

Alf - always good to hear from you and to identify those things which you liked. It helps in my quest to get a better handle on what the majority of people might like in an image. All the very best,

Tom,

The bokeh is fine, but too much of it at the top and the green out of focus leaf might well go or be desaturated. The flower on the water is really lovely.

As for my  white flowers and foliage, I was not shooting at a high enough speed to stop any motion, and the 90mm lens, bought used after I read up on its reputation, is very hard to use on the M9. The lines in the viewfinder do not correspond properly with what you want, and the focus is very hard to get, as it is even with my 35mm "new" lens. That is partly my fault in not sending the camera to Leica to have them "adapt" the older lenses to the digital innards of the M9.

I don't know where you live, but if there is a top notch store that sells used Leica lenses, you might want to take a look. Older cameras are, of course cheaper, but use film. The newer 8 and 8.5 are costly and not full frame,and the m9 is not always available and very expensive. New lenses are also. I have Zeiss  M lenses that do a fine job at 21 and 50mm, and a crazy 15 mm old Voigtlander. If I had not bought the Leicas, starting with an M7 film camera I traded in for the M9, I would be happy with the lenses I have on a Sony Nex 7. One great camera. Read up on it on Luminous Landscape!!

This year is going to be a crazy one for folks who have to have the latest. Canon and Nikon have just come out with new wonderful cameras.

Get back to me about any of this is you wish. I'm recently retired and practicing with my used Leica lenses before I take a trip next month.

Sorry--

Tony, not Tom---How in hell can I take pictures if I misread names?

Ed (I think)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and i really appreciate your feedback. As I mentioned to Roger, I have one that has less on the top but without that pink/red hue, I find it loses some aesthetic value and makes it look more ordinary.  I had the option of focus stacking many images so that all the plant structures would be in focus but in keeping with the general blur, I decided to leave it this way. It comes down to tastes.

Thanks for the info on your Leica experiences. I heard great things about them. I had a photographer mentor (a friend of my Father) who had a leica and I saw first hand what the prints looked like as he processed them in the darkroom.

All the very best,

Nice result with this low point of view on the water and focus control,blur bg looks very good as contrast for foreground flower,nice one.

Great work Tony...we like this !

Best regards, Anne & Runar :-)

many above have said it all but I would simply reiterate what a  wonderful image this is in the crisp clean and colourful tones, composition, and bokeh presentation. well done indeed

Simply Perfect!

Radu, AR, Art X, and Javier - It is  really good to get your comments and ratings. Highly appreciated. 

Great colors and DoF, Tony. I too am of the opinion thta you need the pink above which gives this image an extra bit of richness. 6 from me and best regards.

because of a strange phenomenon the representation of reality is more beautiful of reality. This is art. 7 IMO. Best regards, Antonio

A beautiful subject very well photographed ! I like the colours and selective focus and the format with the use of space was inspired ! Excellent ! Bill

Wonderful image Tony.  I really like the details and the colors.  I didn't read all the comments but the ones i read i tend to agree that it could be cropped a bit from the top.  A square-ish crop seems to work well on this image. Excellent work - michel