WARNING: Amateur Inspired by mishele

[sm4him]

So, I mentioned in another thread that I find mishele's flowers highly inspirational, but I don't want to just "copy" her technique and call that a success. Still, there is something in her floral photos that draws me and has helped to develop my own vision for some slightly unusual floral shots.

This is my first attempt. I know what I am "seeing" in my head for these shots, and this isn't quite it yet. But I liked this anyway, and thought I'd share.

The first photo is "nearly" SOOC. Very few adjustments to the raw file, but I did do some cropping. In retrospect, I wish I'd changed the white balance a little, but I only decided that after I *did* change it for some of the "revised" versions.
The other three are all different versions of the first.

I'd be interested to know if there is a version you prefer, and why. I'd also be interested to know what YOU might have done with the "original" (Photo 1)--feel free to post up your own edit of the original if you'd like, just to see how one photo might be interpreted in a variety of different ways.

Overall, I'm pleased with the results--but it still isn't quite the vision in my head, and I'm not yet entirely sure what I'm missing.

"Original":


Version 2:


Version 3:


Version 4:

 

[irfan.in.tx]

While all of them are nice, I like the third one best. Compositionally, its better than the first two because it doesn't have the distracting green; I also find the depth of field in 3 better than in 4.
Nice work.

 

[sm4him]

Thanks irfan; interesting thoughts. I'm refraining from saying which I like the best, because I want to hear other viewpoints without the possible influence of already knowing my preference.
I will say though, that technically the DOF in 3 and 4 should be the same, since they are the same photo, just different crops.

 

[unpopular]

Just curious. Is #4 cropped?

 

[TGordon]

You.did a great job....are you going to reveal your secret....lol

 

[sm4him]

Just curious. Is #4 cropped?

Yes; they are all the same photo. #1 is the original and #2,3 and 4 are all cropped versions. #3 and 4 also had some other slight processing changes, primarily the color balance.

 

[sm4him]

You.did a great job....are you going to reveal your secret....lol

I wish I HAD a secret to reveal!
The biggest thing I did right in this series? Find the right subject!

 

[fjrabon]

I like #1 the best. I'm not at all a flower shooter, so I don't really have any suggestions, but I do like these much more than I tend to like the 91837423 flower shots posted on here every day. Great job!

 

[TGordon]

Cool

 

[apples]

#2 I like best, mainly because of the context the green adds to the picture. #3-4 are also good, but it's a bit surreal for me (opinion). But then again, I'm not quite sure who mishele is so I have no idea what you're going for!

 

[snowbear124 55]

I like the square crop of #3, but the original color.

 

[Christapher81]

I really like the original. Very well done.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

 

[Frequency]

Except for the last, i like all the other three

 

[mishele]

I'm sorry I didn't see this earlier!! Thanks so much for the props!! lol I'm glad to could get you to try something different!! :hugs:

I like 3 the best. It's mostly because of the focus point you picked and the colors.
Focusing w/ shallow depths of field can be tricky. =) You found the spot to focus on that doesn't say, "look at me".......it says, "follow me". lol I hope that made sense.