Thanks Bob, Brian and Rich for the thoughtful and helpful reviews. They are appreciated.
A little help for Bob in his dilemma <G>...Yes there definitely is room for improvement in the image I submitted. I think the three of you demonstrated that. But, just ~how~ has to be a matter of opinion.
The image that came out of the camera was five or six times larger in area than the cropped image. I basically had a closeup snapshot of a flower. The way the petals were arranged and lighted reminded me of cloud formations, a favorite subject. So I narrowed the image down to what appeared to me to be the best arrangement and went with it. The sharpening seemed to help. I see the innards of the flower as background material. The burnouts are the result of partial shade...I like the effect.
Photographic composition is a difficult subject for me. I'm working on it.
Thanks.
Fletcher
Fletcher Jernigan -
This has a very nice dreaminess to it. I really like the translucency and texture at the upper right. Since you've already sharpened, evidently you've no philosophical qualms about the digital darkroom. Perhaps you might try "burning" some areas to get more portions of the brightness range represented. As it is now, there are some very bright portions, some rather darker ones, and little in between. I think filling in the tonal middle might improve things. Brian van den Broek
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Fletcher Jernigan -
I'm debating this as I look. Lot of potential but the lighting is shouting: the highlights that is. Would it have been better without or are they needed to offset the gloom? Crop square (from the top)? The red bits in the middle - anthers - something not quite perfection about thier framing. Would it be better if the camera had moved right to stop the left hand onesbeing eclipsed? Point of focus - I want sharpness on the anthers etc but then the shapness on the petals would not be there. But then again, maybe even smaller DOF would have blurred the bits the author didn't want to be the subject and stopped me wanting to see them.
Still debating.
A nice shot ... could it have been better? Bob Talbot
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Fletcher Jernigan - Nicely composed, but not enough depth-of-field to carry the overall image. Might have been nice to see only the petals without showing the interior of the flower. The highlights are too burned out--some additional lighting or reflectors would have helped balance things out. Rich Mason<<
