Cherry Blossoms

Taken the day after "peak" blossoms in downtown Washignton, DC. Is

it too dark? What do you think of the hues? Any comments or ratings

are appreciated! :-)

I'm not typically a flower photographer. But living in the DC area gives me lots of opportunity to go downtown this time of year and capture some of the gorgeous flowering trees in this region. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

I've got one more "travel" to go (a non-work-related vacation for a week in Colorado), and then I'll be back online much more frequently. I'll probably post a "teaser" photo of the Rockies, and then return to some of my shots from Europe last summer. I'll eventually catch up with myself!! I've missed you all! ;-)

 

My "BIG" news is that I am now the proud owner of a new 10-22mm lens ... just like Colin's. :-D YAY!!!! Just in time to go shoot some mountains. Can't wait. Had to purchase a new camera bag to put everything in, too! LOL!!

this is a nice shot.i like it...congrats.6,6

It's really good

Beautiful lighting on the cherry blossoms, wonderful color. Good news on your new wide angle. I am headed next week for the Grand Canyon and the NP in Utah. Sondra

I like the light on the flowers and the colour. Have fun with that new lens!

Fantastic soft lighting, Lou Ann, and the colors are wonderful. Thanks for posting.

Nice lighting and colours. About the composition, perhaps would you have to move a bit on the left to avoid the blured flowers and the empty space on the right.

Regards, Henri

And this is often my conundrum with floral shots. Is it preferable to have one, main flower in focus and the rest out of focus (shallow DOF) or is it preferable to have absolutely EVERYTHING in focus (deep DOF)? By the way, when I printed this as a 5x7 for a friend (Hi, Judy!) I cropped the right back quite a bit. I believe that this upload is 4x6 in proportion (but can't swear by it). What do you think about the DOF question?

Is it to me that you ask this question ? I will try to answer (though I don't often photography flowers). The main thing is that the background has to be blured. This is the case here, and it is perfect. If there is many flowers in your composition, like here, it is nearly impossible to have them all in focus but if there is the main one in focus, it is OK. No problem here. Now, it can happen that there is a part of another flower, or a petal, a stem, forwards which will be out of focus, like here. If it does not hide a part of your composition and if it is not a very big object, it will not be a problem. But here, there is a big and dark object out of focus just in the foreground, and which covers almost a quarter of the image, and which hides a part of the main flower of the composition. This is here the problem in this photo in my opinion.

Regards, Henri

Lou Ann, I think that Henri's critique is worth a good look and is sincere. I agree with most of his comment about flower images.

THAT'S exactly what I needed to hear ... details about what exactly what is wrong with this image. Got it! The main flower that is key to the composition is blocked by the out of focus buds in the foreground. Well ... the dogwoods are now in bloom here in VA and I'll probably have some shots of those within the next few days. :-) Thanks Henri & Ken!!

I agree with Henri's assessment. What I do like about this image is the light illuminating the petals.

Thanks, Linda - it was just about 15 minutes after sunrise. A gorgeous morning for that time of year here. It made for gorgeous light and beautiful skies!