Fleur Azure
by BigSmiles

Comment by lisae:
I'm just going to weigh in, after the discussion about this photo in the Rant forum, and say that I love the background on this. I don't generally like conventional flower shots, and what you have taken is an unconventional one. The background teams with the flower to create a colourful, dynamic effect.

Unfortunately, people see a photo with a flower in it and apply their usual standards for "flower shots" without trying to see how a photo can transcend a category and be an artwork. In that case, the background is seen as just a distraction and not a beautiful element in its own right. This is the difference between your professors and the people here. I'm not saying the audience here are wrong, just that they have different expectations of photography :). It's nothing to get upset about.

Fleur Azure
by BigSmiles

Comment by jmsetzler:
Greetings from the Critique Club :)

Big, I think this is an excellent flower shot. The detail in the flower petals with the light and shadows is also very interesting. The depth of field on this shot may be just a tad shallow overall. The upper portion of the petals are a little softer than those closer to the viewer. Maybe one more stop down would have sharpened that up a little bit :) Compositionally, I believe this shot is great... I would not have composed it any differently myself. As many flower shots as I view at my local camera club every month, I may be able to suggest a few things that would improve this shot overall...

1 - use a black backdrop behind your flower to remove the contrasts in the background that could be considered distracting by some.

2 - I would have also possibly tried to diffuse the direct sunlight a little more on this shot. A piece of tracing paper often works well for this.. just a little extra diffusion here could be nice :)

There are a lot of people in my camera club who specialize in flower shots. They are quite incredible sometimes :)

Keep up the good work...

John Setzler

Fleur Azure
by BigSmiles

Comment by a1leyez0nm3:
great. I dont know how anyone could complain....

Fleur Azure
by BigSmiles

Comment by Anachronite:
superb DoF! very very nice... best flower shot I have seen so far this week...
~anachronite

Fleur Azure
by BigSmiles

Comment by PTLParsons:
Good flower photo. Could have cropped off some of the stem, and it would have been better, with less background to be out of focus,(background should be out of focus). Crop it off come and add 2 more points. PTl 7

Fleur Azure
by BigSmiles

Comment by Arachnophilia:
the dof is interesting, but the angle is not. rule of thirds is clearly in play, but i still think the angle (or maybe the condition of the subject) is really hurting this picture. 7

Fleur Azure
by BigSmiles

Comment by Ptman:
Beautiful use of DOF, great shot

Fleur Azure
by BigSmiles

Comment by BJ:
Very nice photo - love the color!

Fleur Azure
by BigSmiles

Comment by jenarom:
Very good focus. Colors are great, and the background is very good.

Fleur Azure
by BigSmiles

Comment by Turbotech:
Too bad it is dead. Good depth of field. Great job blurring the busy background, but I do think there was a better speciman somewhere else.