dseltzer

Ian and Gord are both photographers and artists whose work I greatly admire. So, it will be a pleasure to go through both of their portfolios with depth and separation of fields in my mind. I love that there are always more ways to look and to see new and different aspects of photos.

 

There's no doubt that a narrower DoF would add depth to the flower by giving it more of a front and back, and I've used that before with nice results. On this one, isolating a plane in the primary flower would add depth I'm pretty sure. With the assumption/presumption that the echoing flower provided enough depth, I was thinking only about having all of the primary as crisp as possible. Now, you've got me thinking that adding depth to the primary would likely have the effect of making the transition from near to far less abrupt and more continuous. If so, that would tend to make the whole image more cohesive and stronger. I have more flower shooting to do!

The outlining in this case is probably my doing... a bit too much sharpening. Where I've noticed the most digital noise with my D200 is transitioning from an intense red or purple to the background. I recently shot a strongly purple petunia against a wooden deck, and despite an APO EX lens with aspherical elements, I got some surprisingly prominent blue fringing on the front edge (visually near edge) and red fringing on the back side. I'm waiting for a chance to simulate the situation and try different settings.

 

Getting back to this one... I'm glad you like the echo blossom. I saw it as you described, and took some care in lining it up. What I'd most like to see here would be a slightly deeper DoF to more comfortably and sharply take in the whole, primary blossom. Notes to myself... Thank you, Fred, for stopping by and leaving a much appreciated comment.

I'm so glad the elves chose your image for the daily sampling! And I can't believe there are only two comments after all the time since you posted. Whatever. This shot is absolutely gorgeous. It's soft (really more the high key), yet well defined and crisp. The colors are lovely, and there's a wonderful flow from the pistils to the shadows and up and around to the top of the center petal, then back to the center. I really like how you've trimmed the flower and the shadow to make the nice diagonal sweep from upper right to lower left. Just a lovely, well crafted image!

Pnina, Thanks for stopping by... always good to see you've been here. I'm glad you like the elements you noted in this pic, and I certainly agree it's the pick of the last group. I'm especially glad for the confirmation of this being a different approach. Thank you very much!

Thank you, Doug! I'm really glad you like this. I'm of two minds about the flower. On the one hand I see the lack of sharp, crisp focus, and I think had it been there, it would have given the image a very different quality. On the other hand, while I didn't plan it, the soft focus might lend to a bit of a painterly feel to this image. I kinda like it as it is, partly because it's not razor sharp, and that allows it to have a dreamy feel to it that I like. Who knows? There's no accounting for tastes! Thanks very much for stopping by and commenting... oh, yeah, and for the nice rating, too!

I had this image as an idea, and it's come out pretty much as I imagined. Of course it's

not a novel idea, just a variation on a theme that's been presented on PN before, but I

think the effect works quite well. And you? I especially would like to know if you think

this image is well constructed, balanced, aesthetically pleasing... what do you think?

Please let me know. And thanks for your time and energy.

Thank you, Richard. Much appreciated!

Wonderful. It's a very interesting structure to begin, and I love how you've captured and showcased its lines and shapes, especially while preserving the tile detail. I like the frame you've used (is that the right term?), and I'm curious if it's there as new way you're displaying your work, or are the colored rectangles hiding a bit of the picture in the interest of thwarting thievery?

Next time, fine... this time, GREAT! You had to smile as you thought about making this one! So very well conceived and captured. I know this isn't a pinhole camera, so how *did* you get such a huge DoF? Wow!

Fascinating... like a curtain about to open. Great pastel palate. This is an excellent addition to your motion portfolio!

Jeff has perfectly and elegantly put into words a key aspect of what you accomplish with your motion art. And I also had the same association to a "stately dance," a ballroom in a fancy hotel and something gala. Whatever it may have been meant to be, it's lovely, lively, it flows and has a nice diagonal energy created by the lighter areas bounding the darker area (a tree in the foreground, perhaps, as well as as nice pattern of branches?), so that the background, defined as not gold or yellow "V" or parabolic shapes, is clearly set off from the golden parabolas, yet aligned with the left strokes of the parabolas. I like the symmetry and harmony of the motion in this, and I find the whole very pleasant to look at and visually roam around.

I'll see El's "very well seen," and raise it! This is wonderfully seen, and I hope you didn't look into the sun so long as to hurt your excellent vision... though vision and seeing aren't at all the same things. Still, one can't very easily have the second without the first. So, I'm hoping you're fine after seeing this image and capturing it. I love it's graphic quality, and I could argue that the lack of detail in the sun reflection reinforces that simplicity and boldness. You have reproduced the scene you saw so well that I find myself reflexively squinting when I look at the anchor! Really fine work!!

Without that leaf tip, one's eye is much more content to stay in the frame. It's good to be surprised so , in order to learn, to be reminded there's much we don't know and/or wouldn't predict, and to insure photography is always new.

Thank you! Your visit and your opinion mean a lot to me!

"I do a fair amount of work with flowers..." is quite the understatement! It's a compliment that you found my shot interesting enough to spend time looking at it and it's very helpful to know what someone with your experience, specifically with flowers, thinks about this image. That's valuable information! Thank you, Roger!

As you can see, I've re-posted after cloning out the back-lit leaflet. To my eye, that seemingly small change dramatically enhances the punch of the image. Amazing how something so small and seemingly unobtrusive can actually be having quite a marked effect! Thank you, Gord! And thanks for your other generous and detailed comments. I do so value your observant and punctilious reviews. It's helpful (not to mention rewarding!) to know what you think of this composition, and that you've commented on what I thought was there. So, that's reinforcing, too.

Hey, Ian. I'm glad you like this shot, and I agree very much about the background (a row of red leaved shrubbery, actually) and how it helps set off the bug. It'd be much too harsh and distracting if the bg were darker. Would that I could take more credit for the bg, but it just happens to border the lilies I was shooting. I *did* see it and thought it would likely work well.

 

Anyway, I'm delighted that you like it, and I appreciate all your observant and detailed thoughts and comments. BTW, thanks for noticing the specular highlight, and especially for it's lack of brightness. It's tamed, I think, because of using natural light that was a bit directional, but mostly diffused. greater luminance of the reflection probably would be distracting, and might lend a cartoon-like feel to the bug.

Thank you very much for looking and for your very nice compliments.

Thanks, Roger! I'm glad you like the light. I'm very pleased with it and the lens effects. This pic would not have near the energy, IMHO, without the light, colors and diagonal energy set up by the sun dogs.

 

I like that you see the hairy stem and leaves as the prime attraction, and the bud (it really isn't a flower, yet) is at least not demanding, if not actually secondary. I think it's not often that the hairs on the stem are the main attraction... most flower pictures feature the blossom as the main attraction in some fashion or another. So, I'm drawn to this because it is decidedly not cliche, not 'the usual' flower shot, and brings the viewer a perspective most viewers would probably not find on their own.

 

I'd be interested to know if there are any PS maneuvers, adjustments, or compositional changes you think would increase the impact of this, given the elements that are here, and knowing the image is well within the range of what I saw through the lens and in my mind's eye.

 

 

Thanks very much for taking such a careful look and leaving detailed comments. The image is definitely the same with and without yellow frame, so, it seems very clear to me the frame detracts. I'd thought it might bring out the yellow in the flowers, but I can see how it works in reverse as well. Thanks for your honest impressions. And I'm glad you like the columbine, too. Thank you!

This is an amazingly handsome butterfly, wonderfully captured, and the composition of the curved glass and the curves of the butterfly wings works very well for me. The background is perfect, with subtle color, warmth and depth, and nice color contrast with the orange of the butterfly. I also like very much how the left, out of focus, antenna leads the eye in and adds a 3D quality, especially as it gains clarity on its way in and meets the butterfly just at the plane of focus. Not only well seen, but a very well made photo.

Really nice shot! Excellent use of DoF, great framing of natural placement and pattern. The nicely out of focus upper part of the image leads the eye down to the three, prominent blossoms in the lower right. Taking this near mid day (that's how it looks) minimizes shadows from the center of the flowers and preserves their symmetry. I like this shot a lot. I especially like that you took this when the flowers were showing their pollen. That feature of the flowers gives them a third section that gives the blooms greater interest and depth. Well seen and captured!

What a sweet, happy, tender moment. The expressions and poses are wonderful, and the picture quality is excellent. Nice job!

I'm working with a new piece of gear, a B+W +5 close-up filter, using

it on a Nikkor AF 28-105mm, 1:3.5-4.5 D Macro. I'm pleased with the

filter, and this pic came out mostly as I saw it. I'd be great if you

would tell me what you think of the concept, the composition, and any

other factors you care to include. Thanks for taking a look.

It's so very nice to know you've been looking at my work, and especially nice that you like this one so much. Thank you!