Flowers in the yard, C&C appreciated and encouraged

CMfromIL · Jun 10, 2012

Took a few pictures in our yard, and thought I'd share the results. I concentrated on composure, trying some different backgrounds and effective use of the lighting. All manual focus. F/2.8, ISO and speed varied. Generally zoomed to 200mm.

1.

2. This was a 2 day effort, this shot is the first morning.

3. Here is the second day of the same flowers.

4.

5. This was the hardest picture to take, to make sure everything would be in the frame. I'm not sure if it worked, but I was trying to catch the 3 flowers. Thoughts?

Bitter Jeweler · Jun 10, 2012

Love that first one!

The others just seem awkward, like I keep wanting to scooch them over in the frame.

CMfromIL · Jun 11, 2012

Thanks! I liked #1 alot as well. The others were cropped, so maybe I need to adjust the crop a bit. I was trying to keep things out of the center, but apparently missed the mark. I'll see if I can set them differently in the frame.

Bitter Jeweler · Jun 11, 2012

I have no suggestions, unfortunately.
It just seems all the subjects are too close to the edges and I get the feeling they are trying to leave.
I am trying to find the words to explain how they make me feel...

Like, all the tension is focussed outwards, rather than inwards. Like I am continually compelled to look at the edges, rather than within?

Number three, has poor balance with the big open flower and the small new flower. Both ride the edge. They force you down and to the left edges. I think the larger flower should have more visual weight, but it doesn't seem to.

Number four has both flowers facing diagonally up, and out of the frame, opposite each other, forcing me to look away. These flowers are rather standoffish, and don't seem to be friends.

Number five, the background flower seems dominant with that strong stem line. Which is contrary to being drawn to what's in focus. What's in focus are near the bottom edge, AND pointing you to the OOF flower.

Number two, flowers are low and to the left. I like the attempt at symmetry with the background leaf and veins. Feels unbalanced and "heavy".

I am drawing a blank for remedies. I see what you are trying to show, but I think you are screwed by the circumstances to ever get compelling compositions.
Sadly, it might be better to walk away, than labor over these.

CMfromIL · Jun 11, 2012

Bitter Jeweler said:
Sadly, it might be better to walk away, than labor over these.

Well, fortunatly it wouldn't be a far walk. About 8' from the deck to the house! :lmao:

I'll take another look at the RAW file, but I appreciate your comments. Thanks.

WesternGuy · Jun 11, 2012

I like the first one, although it would be nice if all of the branch was in focus. As far as the others are concerned, I tend to agree with Bitter Jeweller - I found these images cramped - my eye didn't know where to look first. My suggestion would be to pick one flower and concentrate on an image of it in isolation. Try and simplify your composition, rather than crowding too much into the image - simple is almost always better as the viewer's eye can concentrate on the one and only one subject. For example, in #5, you have three subjects, unfortunately, one of them is out of focus, yet the viewer's eye is still drawn to it because of its red colour. This distracts the viewer from the two subjects that are in focus. HTH.
_______________
WesternGuy