Why does it appeal to me?

[Jewel]

Taken from approx 6 - 8 feet away in natural light, this is as taken, I've just resized it for posting. The tight field of view was intentional.

For some reason I just love this pic, and I really cannot provide a reason.

Anyway, as a first-go at the critique gallery, feel free to rip into it. Maybe someone can explain why I love it...

Cheers
Jewel

 

[Meysha]

Sweet! I love it too. That purple is unreal for a flower.
This is just a personal opinion of cropping - but I think I'd love it even more if I could see a little bit more of the long skinny bits on the right side. That'd also bring in the yellow colour. Dunno if that would end up making it too distracting. But anyway, it's great.
:thumbup:

Edit: Just looked at it again, and maybe if you got rid of the 'clump' of long skinny bits. not all of them. I reckon that'd look pretty cool.

 

[Rob]

I like it - there are so many badly composed flower pictures around, and by using a tight crop you've got a good clean image. As it's critique, I might say that you could do with a touch less brightness, but that's not really necessary, I was wondering whether -7 brightness and +3 contrast would bring out even more? Great image.

 

[Jewel]

Wow, thanks guys!

Meysha, I haven't cropped it at all.

Rob, I agree, it does look a bit bright, but that's the colour of the flower. It's a waterlily, and the petals are almost translucent. The pink waterlily below was taken at the same time in the same light (from memory it was mid-morning and the sun was right on the flowers), and you can see the how delicate the petals are. I find it a tight balance between accurate colour and over-exposure!

Thanks again

Jewel