LUSTROUS

mishele · Apr 17, 2011

Thanks for taking another look Derrel. When dealing w/ art there is always an emotional element......your initial reaction is usually the right one for you......=) So don't worry about not being able to explain it!! I know I've looked at many images and couldn't tell you why I liked or disliked it.

BTW.......I also liked the feed back in this thread!! I wish more were like this!! It's fun to hear what people have to say about art. If anything......searching for reasons for liking or disliking shots gets you to know yourself a little better....=)
L0vemedead.......Thanks for the comments! If you want some links to some flower photography PM me....=)

Bitter Jeweler · Apr 17, 2011

I think they are stunning too, but they don't work for me. While they are completely awesome, they fall short of being exciting.
As great as they are, I just think they fall in that weird inbetween land of representitive, and abstract imagery. While these are really really good, they just don't meet up to past images I have seen from you. They are incredibly cool, but I just don't care for them.

KenC · Apr 17, 2011

I like them both, but the out-of-focus green areas upper right/lower left in the first one are a little distracting - cropping the sides to eliminate them gives a simpler and possibly more powerful composition. I agree with others about the purple background in the second is a bit overwhelming - crop a little off the top? (and maybe the left to get rid of that petal that looks like a pointing finger?)

mishele · Apr 17, 2011

Mike and Bitter.........I think, I know exactly where you are coming from. I really like these two images but I am at a lose w/ what to do w/ them. lol They don't necessarily have the "edge" that some of my other more abstract shots have. They are very pretty.......but just not overly exciting. So I do understand your....."stunning but" stuff. Thanks for the comments guys!!
BTW......Bitter your post actually made me giggle out loud. (hubby asked what's so funny...lol) All the "as great as they are" and "completely awesome" but "don't work for me". lol

Ken.......You are right there is definitely some little tweaks here and there that could make these better. Thanks for commenting!!

Isn't it amazing how many of your shots end up in that "what do I do w/ you" place!!! They are to just stay as a file on your computer for the rest of their lives........=(

clarinetJWD · Apr 17, 2011

I promise to keep this shorter

So, I was a bit off! There was less PP than I thought, a lot of what I saw was already there, and that's a great thing. Both crops were very smart, as they get rid of nearly all the distractions. Funny, though, that I don't see any of the brownish color in the first one on the original, so it must have been brought out in some of the color work you did on it. That gives you even more of a case to go over that section with the de-saturate brush to knock it back down to where it should be.

The second one is definitely sharpened beyond the "standard photography" mark, and almost looks like an inverted color curve. Not in the way the colors are, but in that way that certain spots seem to leap out, and in that photo is a great effect. The other tell-tale sign of the sharpening is that there's a bit of haloing around each sharp line. All of this doesn't work most of the time, but it all just seems like the right call to make here.

I say take the second one, blur that one petal, clone out the white dots, print it really big, and hang it up.

Also, what magical lens is that which produces such a slim DOF and amazing bokeh? (Oh...I see you're a canon shooter so it doesn't help me much anyways

)

mishele · Apr 18, 2011

You can only get these shots w/ a canon.......lol :sexywink:

Amazon.com: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM 1-to-1 Macro Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo
Thanks again for the well thought out comments, clarinetJWD!!! I appreciate all the time you put into them!!!
About printing and hanging.......lol I don't have a room that a bright pink and purple photo would go in......lol

Overread · Apr 18, 2011

Clarinet - pretty much any 100mm macro would give similar shots - and if you came over to the sigma side a 150mm or 180mm would give even more blur. Heck you can probably get pretty close (blurr wise) with a 70-300mm with a "macro" function - at least for larger flowers. Its just that most don't use the wide open apertures and instead stop down to f8 or f13 for their depth of field.

reedshots · Apr 18, 2011

Fantastic color on both, but I think I would like #1 with the same PP only without the crop

Derrel · Apr 18, 2011

I have found this to be one of THE BEST C&C threads in quite some time--even though at least FOUR of the respondents are expressing reservations or misgivings about the images in question, and there are only two images here under C&C. I take the time to point this out because today,and this week, we've had some people complaining about this forum being a useless place to discuss creative topics and also suggesting that we need to treat recipients of C&C like fragile China dolls, and handle them with kid gloves, by dishing out sugar plums, and atta' boys and atta' girls. And yet, this thread shows that even though the photos presented for C&C can be very pleasing, or even "special" or even "superb", it's also possible that the photos can fail to rise to the level of "exciting" in the eyes of the same person.

clarinetJWD · Apr 18, 2011

Overread said:
Clarinet - pretty much any 100mm macro would give similar shots - and if you came over to the sigma side a 150mm or 180mm would give even more blur. Heck you can probably get pretty close (blurr wise) with a 70-300mm with a "macro" function - at least for larger flowers. Its just that most don't use the wide open apertures and instead stop down to f8 or f13 for their depth of field.

I actually have the Nikkor 75-300 with macro, but I've never managed anything quite like that! Then again, it's F/waytoomuch...

mishele · Apr 18, 2011

Replies: 24
Views: 352 On a flower C&C thread.........LOL
Derrel, I'm w/ you......this has been a very insightful thread. I've enjoyed the detailed reasons that people gave about the shots. It's nice to know that we can have some good conversations about art. It's also cool to see how different people's minds work when they look at the same image!! The same thing one person loved about a shot, someone else hated......=) And guess what.....no one was wrong!!! Thanks again everyone!!! We should have some more threads like this.