Flowers From Mother's Day

[midnitejam]

Thought I would shoot the Mother's Day Flowers before they perished...
Canon 20D w/kit lens
1/60
F-25
Manual Exposure
ISO 100
Auto White Balance
Partial Metering focus
Off-Camera Flash (SunPak 522, AC Powered) and no ambient light
sRGB
Focal Length 38
Photoshop for crop, contrast, and framing.

How could I have improved this shot? How would you have shot it? How can I crop it to improve composition?

All suggestions welcome.

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[Hertz van Rental]

How could I have improved this shot? How would you have shot it?

Two points:
How someone else would approach this shot tells you nothing except that other people do photography different to you.
And asking how to improve the shot requires that you tell us what you were trying to achieve in the first place. If you don't know what you were trying to do why do you expect that we will?
Please read here for Guidelines.

 

[jemmy]

ive come to the official conclusion that photography is an individual thing. what i am passionate about, you may not be. but heres my view anyway cause i noticed you only had one reply so far. for ME, it's too dark and doesn't do the flowers justice? xx i prefer flowers to be shot in beautiful soft natural light filtering through a window. but maybe this is the look you were after though? xx i think the crop is fine.. just do whatever works for you xx

 

[ElectricHarmony]

The photo is too dark for my taste. I like flowers in natural light showing off VIBRANT colors

 

[midnitejam]

Thanks for the replies, Guys.

I wanted to have the directional look that a straight-on flash from the side produces. And I wanted to separate the flowers from each other and the background.

I knew the carpet background would be distracting regardless of how much blur was applied to it in post edit. I under-exposed in order to paint only the flowers with light from the flash. That's why I shot manual at F-25 and 1/60 shutter with absolutely no ambient light.

 

[elsaspet]

I think the only problem with that, is it tends to take away from the depth. I'd love some shadow detail here, and there just isn't anything there giving in depth. JMO.

 

[midnitejam]

I think the only problem with that, is it tends to take away from the depth. I'd love some shadow detail here, and there just isn't anything there giving in depth. JMO.

elsaspet, thanks for your comments. They are a big help.
After seing lullabye's post of her flower series, I definitely realize the inferior quality of my own shot.

 

[Fredlysning]

First i tought. Wow, what a great shot. But, after som seconds i got confused. My eyes just ran from one pixel to another.

The colors are awsome, i love them.
So, all together: A fine photo with great colors.