Flower

SLRdude

Thanks for looking and for your input.

cadred

I dig it for the composition. I wish there was a tad more contrast with the stamen, but overall I dig it

SLRdude

cadred wrote:

I dig it for the composition. I wish there was a tad more contrast with the stamen, but overall I dig it

Thanks! I can try to mess with that.

paddler4

I have done a lot of flowers over the past year, and I think the main choice is how much DOF you want. Under natural light, handheld, you are pretty much stuck with a small area in focus, as you have. Some people like that, particularly if there is one part of the flower they want to draw attention to. The other option (apart from flash) is to cut the flower, put it indoors, and use a tripod, either with natural light or artificial light. That lets you use a long exposure and a small aperture for greater DOF. With my macro lens, the degredation from diffraction, if you shut the lens down, is pretty minor. Here is one I did that way, with natural light but on my kitchen table:

SLRdude

paddler4 wrote:

I have done a lot of flowers over the past year, and I think the main choice is how much DOF you want. Under natural light, handheld, you are pretty much stuck with a small area in focus, as you have. Some people like that, particularly if there is one part of the flower they want to draw attention to. The other option (apart from flash) is to cut the flower, put it indoors, and use a tripod, either with natural light or artificial light. That lets you use a long exposure and a small aperture for greater DOF. With my macro lens, the degredation from diffraction, if you shut the lens down, is pretty minor. Here is one I did that way, with natural light but on my kitchen table:

Thanks Paddler!

That was actually shot handheld at the Dallas Arboretum and the flower was... alive and well, and planted outside. No way for me to take it indoors. :-)

I employ the technique that you describe above to shoot watches and it works rather well.

jpc

SLRdude - I like the composition in your shot. It's tough to make a flower pic not look like just another flower pic. You did a good job.

chrisjohnson

I like, especially the way the tip is thrusting forward. You capture the essence.
I suppose people will have technical comments but I believe you will have this one in your favourites for a while.

Icebear

I like it
For a hand held, outside, it's remarkable. What really sets it apart for me though is the wonderful deep background in the upper left. Very pleasing shot.

SLRdude

Thanks guys!

It was taken at Dallas Arboretum last year, with my D50.
The lens was a 105 macro that I borrowed from a friend.

SLRdude

Icebear wrote:

For a hand held, outside, it's remarkable. What really sets it apart for me though is the wonderful deep background in the upper left. Very pleasing shot.

The blue background is made up of other flowers. If I remember correctly, it was pansies.

Those here actually....

(this pic is not very interesting though)