First Post...

Davo · May 3, 2005

Hi all, this is my first shot at posting a pic on here. Let me know what you think, be as harsh as you feel necessary (though constructive criticism is always my favorite). Note: I was going for a slightly surreal look, if you even find it to look slightly surreal at this point (this is a third version, i went way overboard in the post-processing at first).

Thanks in advance, can't wait to hear from you all! :mrgreen:

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Uncle Frank · May 3, 2005

Hi, Davo! The placement of the flowers is very good, but the background intrudes a little too much for my taste. A wider aperture would blur it more effectively. It appears to me that AF latched onto the forward leaf at the bottom of the frame, leaving the petals slightly OOF. Try using zone focus, and making sure the active bracket is planted squarely on the blossom. It's a good effort, but not quite POTD quality.

Panos Kazanelis · May 3, 2005

Welcome Davo, in time for a morning coffee ;-)
Well since surreal is a vague term... I still see a bouquet of yellow roses, a bit OoF with some blown-up spots. I find the green and yellow a bit saturated... but then again, I just woke up and haven't finished my first coffee so you know how it is... :-D

Davo · May 3, 2005

wow...amazingly quick replies. thanks!

if i drank coffee now...i'd definnitely be screwed for my 8am design class

i think as for surreal you'd have to see my first (horrible overboard) version of it that was ridiculous.

the pic actually has a 0.3 gaussian blur on it...this was a quick revision to an image that someone commented was "too sharp" so i fixed it for him. it just happens to be my latest version on this poor abused photo.

it's kind of in limbo, and i wanted to get some different perspectives on it.

i'll make note of all your suggestions and try reshooting (or even reprocessing the original) the flower this week when i'm on campus.

thanks again! :mrgreen:

PhotoDawg · May 3, 2005

Detail and color are very well done in this shot.

Greg · May 3, 2005

nice first post. these folks are plenty hard to please but they always offer comments as a way to improve. I agree with the wider aperture. It would help make teh background less intrusive.

Davo · May 3, 2005

huzzah!!! more replies.

hard to please is the only audience it seems i've ever played to. which is both good and bad at times.

i went to try and retake the picture today utilizing all the suggestions in this thread, and lo and behold the college replanted some time between today and last week. weird! it actually creeped me out at first...i spent a good minute or two wandering around thinking i was crazy.

i did shoot a few flowers today, and made sure to use a wider aperature and get the focus in the proper spots (though i think that effect was mostly from processing). i'll see how they turn out when i download.