Shallow Flower

[deeky]

This is a bit different angle and a very shallow dof. I took it a while back, but keep coming back to it.

Really curious for your thoughts on dof and comp.

IMG_9226a by breckmiller, on Flickr

 

[Peeb]

I like the dark background.

 

[Alexr25]

This is a bit different angle and a very shallow dof.

Is that another way of saying that you missed focus?
I'm not a great fan of the current fad for super shallow DOF but if you "must" use it at least try to get the main subject in sharp focus. In this case this is the main subject IMO is the lighter area that extends from the centre of the flower towards the front of the flower rather than the area at the back of the flower that you have in focus. The eye is naturally drawn towards the light areas in an image and this is precisely the area that you have out of focus.

 

[Peeb]

Focus seems fine to me.

 

[KenC]

I like to do some of this sort of thing and my preference is to have the focus point closer to the foreground. I don't like the look of out-of-focus areas in the foreground. To get the center of the flower in focus I'd probably raise the camera and get closer to put the center in the foreground. Everyone has their own preferences for this - just my two cents here ...

 

[deeky]

Not missed focus at all - it's exactly where I was aiming. If it's a miss, it's a miss in choice of composition. The in-focus portions are the very first row of petals on the far side of the center. For me it was something like looking through a crowd of people and finding the closest person that is actually looking at you.

Since it was suggested, here's the same flower with a slightly more head-on shot and a little more dof.

IMG_9210a by breckmiller, on Flickr

And then there is the standard (albeit static) head shot.

IMG_9204a1 by breckmiller, on Flickr