Still here...

[Ernicus]

Standing tall and proud, regardless of circumstance.

 

[pgriz]

The thing is, you have to decide what you want your picture to show. If, for example, you wanted to show the flower in full bloom juxtaposed with the ripe one on the left, then both should have been in focus, or at least the one on the right somewhat more in focus than you had it. If, on the other hand, you were highlighting the seeds holding on to the base, then the background flower on the right does not contribute, and should, in my opinion, been out of the image frame completely. Either interpretation would work, but you kinda parked it in between. I'm a big fan of keeping it simple - select your main subject (or theme), and arrange all the other elements to support the main subject, or minimize/get rid of them.

Looking at the image, you have a potential symmetry play: shoot the dandelion head with half of the seeds on (say, on the left), and none on the other side, with the image centered (to tell the viewers - us - that we are SUPPOSED to see symmetry), and the background out of focus (because the context of where you found the dandelion is not part of the story).

 

[Patriot]

I like this photo a lot, it's simple but sends a message. It relates to me Standing tall and proud, regardless of circumstance in the military away from home. I want to say thank you sir for posting this photo. I will use this as an inspiration.

 

[Joel_W]

Pgriz has brought up some excellent points so that the viewer knows precisely what you were trying to show us. when I 1st viewed your photo I ended up starring at the out of focus yellow Dandelion. Here's a very similar image I took a view weeks ago, but incorporated two of the same Dandelion.



With that said, non-similar flowers do work, but need to be less pronounced.

 

[Ernicus]

The thing is, you have to decide what you want your picture to show. If, for example, you wanted to show the flower in full bloom juxtaposed with the ripe one on the left, then both should have been in focus, or at least the one on the right somewhat more in focus than you had it. If, on the other hand, you were highlighting the seeds holding on to the base, then the background flower on the right does not contribute, and should, in my opinion, been out of the image frame completely. Either interpretation would work, but you kinda parked it in between. I'm a big fan of keeping it simple - select your main subject (or theme), and arrange all the other elements to support the main subject, or minimize/get rid of them.

Looking at the image, you have a potential symmetry play: shoot the dandelion head with half of the seeds on (say, on the left), and none on the other side, with the image centered (to tell the viewers - us - that we are SUPPOSED to see symmetry), and the background out of focus (because the context of where you found the dandelion is not part of the story).

I was in a hurry to get on the road back home, however I do have a few single shots of the half dandelion, wasn't sure which to use. I'll look at them shortly and see if they are usable.

I agree about the other one being more in focus, I think I shot one like that, not sure, have to check. I have a terrible habit of shooting 50 of the same thing and takes a while to sort through.

 

[Ernicus]

I like this photo a lot, it's simple but sends a message. It relates to me Standing tall and proud, regardless of circumstance in the military away from home. I want to say thank you sir for posting this photo. I will use this as an inspiration.

ooohrahh.

Thank you for your service.

 

[Ernicus]

ok, so yeah I shot one which I'll post here in this one...but I was not happy with the background...still not. I think I should have moved all together for a different angle and background. I have two others but they really don't look any different than a cropped version of the above would look..I guess I just panned a bit left to remove the yellow flower to see what it would be like.

again..great info and gives me more to think about when shooting as well as lets me know I am thinking now while shooting.

 

[Ernicus]

I shot two more tonight but I don't think they are post worthy. I think I like the morning sun vs the evening sun better on them. I'll try again tomorrow using the same theme and see if I can get a better one portraying "standing tall" more. Gotta get back in that mode though...I was in that sort of mood earlier when I shot that one, given changes in my life currently. I'm kinda mood driven. Tonight's felt forced.

 

[pgriz]

The reality is that once you have a vision of what you want to see, it does take a fair amount of effort (and luck!) to achieve it. Sometimes, the vision is good, but you just don't have the tools to make it work. That too, is OK. Eventually, it all comes together, and gives you that declicious "aha" moment when you realize that you got there.