Flower in B&W

photoman · Jul 2, 2004

I like how this photo turned out, but would like some other critiques on it other than my own

Hope you like it

this was done on 120 Tri-X 320
no post processing was done except for adjusting the contrast and levels

Alison · Jul 4, 2004

I quite like this picture. I love the contrast and the flower had such definition. The only thing that I would see that could make it stronger would be to have the whole flower in focus. But, I do like this photo a lot. Nice work!

voodoocat · Jul 4, 2004

I agree with Alison. You're on the right path with this one... get the front petals and all of the pistols in focus and you have a winner. Sometimes a shallow DOF really works on a flower shot. But this one has most of the flower in focus with the elements in the foreground out of focus which I feel detracts from the image.

photoman · Jul 4, 2004

Ill try and fix the DOF problem, thanks for your comments, i knew it was lacking something but i couldnt figure out what.

thanks again for your help

oriecat · Jul 4, 2004

I agree with the others. I would also like to see just a little more space around it, it feels really cramped in, especially at the top. I think it needs just a little breathing room.

malachite · Jul 4, 2004

One thing I see a lot and do myself with stuff like this is to kinda do the 'rule of thirds' with em. Put the flower in the lower left of the picture and leave the rest black. The flower just kinda points to the rest of the frame. How much space you put can then be determined by the use of the pic.

Other than that and the DOF that's already been mentioned, you nailed this one.............

canonrebel · Jul 4, 2004

photoman said:
Ill try and fix the DOF problem, thanks for your comments, i knew it was lacking something but i couldnt figure out what.

thanks again for your help

photoman, you already have a unique flower shot. I wouldn't change anything if it were mine. Your focus technique deviates from the standard flower shots. If the entire flower is in focus, you'll end up with just another oridnary run-of-the-mill flower shot. You've deviated from the standard submission and it's nice.

Maybe if you only added sharpness to the pistols and cropped it to place the pistols lower and more to the left in the frame in order to obtain a focal point away from the center of the photo. Or maybe add more top and right margin--anything to get the flower further away from the center. You can find a lot of otherwise good flower shots here on the forum that are totally screwed up because they are perfectly centered.

You really did well to capture the translucency in the petals.

photoman · Jul 6, 2004

Thank you all for your comments

I beleive with this picture when i took it was more towards capturing the detail in the petals rather than the flower.

I will try some of your suggestions

After looking at a couple of prints i made online and some 8x10 i decided to blow it up to an 16x20 inch print (all i can say is it is beautiful

).

thank you again for your support