Ready to open.

I posted this in the Bokeh thread in the lens section, but the more I thought about the more I want some C&C on it. The flower is from a Saucer Magnolia. The shot was taken mid day with my XT, EF 70-210 f/3.5-4.5 at f/4.5, 210mm, 1/800 and ISO 100. Thanks for looking. No PP other than converting to jpeg and resizing for web.

Hiya - its a very nice shot - and, imho a good angle.

I do think that you could have done with a tiny little bit of light, reflected onto the flower bud - (maybe from a bit of white card - or, believe it or not, your own white clothing, if you were wearing it!) The reason: the dark areas have lost a bit of definition - and it is a pity, cos in the lit areas, you can see the velvety texture of the green 'leaf' that the petals are protected by.

I think a bit of reflected light, would also enhance the colour and texture on the actual pink petals.

This is always the problem with shooting in bright sunlight - MID DAY IS THE WORST TIME - the lit areas tend to wash out and the shadows lose the detail.

Finally - I'm always one for cropping tightly around the subject - move in closer - your subject deserves more 'prime space' in the picture.

dzstudios, thanks for your reply. I know about shooting midday but it was such a nice day and I had nothing else to do at lunch. I had my telephoto on because I was shooting some geese at a pond nearby. I contimplated shooting from the other side of the flower to show more detail, but then my background would have been a road instead of the grass. As I walked around the flower I thought this was the best shot available, especially showing off the fuzz of the flower. I should also post a closeup of the flower, as it has a lot of detail even with this exposure.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this pic? Good, bad, anything?

I like how it's backlit, but I agree with dz that it needs some fill. I like the "openess" of your composition, but maybe applying the rule of thirds would improve it.

I would second DZ's comment about filling the frame. There is a lot of empty space. Great shot. Dennis

Thank you for your comments. Ther is enough detail in the original that I could play with some cropping. I might try this later tonight.

Subject is too centered in the frame, and there's a lack of anything else.

I agree with the other comments. That said for a mid-day lunch break shot, it's really good!

Thanks, I will take that into consideration the next time I shoot some more.

Thanks.

Alright, I took the advice from the comments given here and, well, I have had some time to play with it in PS and I really like the outcome, but would still like some people to critique the new pic. So, here it is, what do you think?

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The way I see it Mike, before, it look like just a "shot" of a flower and now looks like a very nice "picture" of a flower bud.
That's what my eyes see. Beyond that, I'm still learning so any critique will be undereducated

300Dplus wrote:
The way I see it Mike, before, it look like just a "shot" of a flower and now looks like a very nice "picture" of a flower bud.
That's what my eyes see. Beyond that, I'm still learning so any critique will be undereducated

Thanks Tom. That is a great way to think about it. And I will take anyone's critique, regardless of education.

In2Photos wrote:
Alright, I took the advice from the comments given here and, well, I have had some time to play with it in PS and I really like the outcome, but would still like some people to critique the new pic. So, here it is, what do you think?

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Greetings,
This is much better than the original photo. Good details in the shadow now. You have just turned a flower photo into a beautiful portrait by cropping it tight. Well done. Enjoy...