IMG_1283-bee-and-vineWEB-AFTER.jpg
by sfalice

Comment by Ann:
This kind of shot is so hard, because the camera's light meter will see all of the dark green, and overexpose the white flowers. The problem is even worse with hard light like this. I think you've probably brought back as much detail as you're going to get on the flowers with this capture.

Anyway, I think you've done about as much as you're going to be able to with this shot. You've got the focus on the bee and the flower, and the dark leaves are conveniently out of the way. Maybe a bit overly sharp, but you'll lose detail if you back off on the sharpness.

One thing I've found that helps in hard light situations like this is to get a shoot-through umbrella, and use it to "shade" your subject (either with an assistant or a light stand). An umbrella will make it possible to get shots like this without having to get out of bed at 5 am to get the morning light.

IMG_1283-bee-and-vineWEB-AFTER.jpg
by sfalice

Comment by gwe21:
very eye catching now. the focus is on the flower and bee instead of the whole bush.

IMG_1283-bee-and-vineWEB-AFTER.jpg
by sfalice

Comment by TCGuru:
Your focus seems to have fallen on your flowers instead of your bee :)

The flowers are a nice subject. You did a good job with the whites and the detail on most of the petals but sometimes, when sharpening is concerned, less is more. They almost look a bit fake now. It is a wonderful composition though and your edit is good.

IMG_1902-Lily-after
by sfalice

Comment by CNovack:
Oh, really nice minimalistic shot! I too like the off-centered look of the composition. Cropping it down really created visual interest. Darkening the shadow and having the deep shadow appear on the far left hand side of the composition increased the visual impact for I think of a 'stage curtain' being pulled off to one side to reveal this aging lily. The crack in the wall also serves to draw the eye to the dying flower (not to mention it can also be symbolic in imagery of death/dying/broken). Nice going with increasing the contrast in the wall so that the rough texture pops out nicely! Hmmm, a nice contrast with the elements that symbolize of aging/death/decay/erosion would be to select the stem of the lily and boost brightness/contrast and/or saturation/color lvls so that the green is more evident. The juxtaposition of green being a symbol for renewal and the other symbols of aging/decay would make for an interesting visual composition. You have a nice clean minimalistic photo here and thin black line would help the photo pop a bit more off of the white border.

Flight Path
by sfalice

Comment by mgsmith53:
Pretty nice, but it looks like it's going to crash into the trees. Perspective and POV problem.

IMG_1902lily-before-crop
by sfalice

Comment by Jaker:
I think this middle picture is actually my favorite! For some reason it accentuates the lighting work you did on the flower better than the final. :-)

IMG_1902-Lily-after
by sfalice

Comment by gwe21:
i love the 'off centeredness' of this now. i think the black area and the crack pushes your eye to the lily.

Flight Path
by sfalice

Comment by hotpasta:
a little bland in the composition stakes...it's an OK image, but nothing about it really grabs me

IMG_1902-Lily-after
by sfalice

Comment by TCGuru:
I like the edit to acheive what you were after. I liked the before cropping but I think it was because it was bordered in that odd way with black on both sides. You got exactly what you were going for with this crop though, IMO :)

IMG_1902-Lily-after
by sfalice

Comment by roz:
great contrasty image .. love the living flower against the concrete & the different textures and the feeling that its growing 'against all odds' .. lovely alice .. :)