Secrets of the Dark
by Xilebo

Comment by Artifacts:
The lighting perspective and composition (except for inclusion of the top of the pot at the bottom) is the strength of this image.

On the technical side the lighting is too strong for the exposure so the petals of the blossoms are overexposed in several places. That is to bad, this is really a nice shot. It might be improved with a shorter exposure time that would not only cure the overexposed petals but provide a darker and less distracting background that would better fit the challenge theme.

On an interesting side note many cactus open their blossoms at night to be pollinated by bats and other night creatures and then close again forever within 18 to 48 hours. This is true of the Saguaro Cactus in Arizona. I've spend a agood deal of time photographing those blossoms over the last month or so but never photographed it after dark. Maybe I should have. :) My blossom shots are here:
//www.pbase.com/azleader/saguaroblossom

Secrets of the Dark
by Xilebo

Comment by emilarab:
GREAT shot ,are they real ?

Secrets of the Dark
by Xilebo

Comment by itsrazzi:
simply beautiful, 10

Secrets of the Dark
by Xilebo

Comment by shadow:
flowers

Secrets of the Dark
by Xilebo

Comment by Jutilda:
Love the light from beneath. That's a cool take on the challenge.

Early morning Blues
by Xilebo

Comment by ammar:
nice shot, what i like about it is the single horse running in a different direction(so real)

Early morning Blues
by Xilebo

Comment by Imagineer:
Lovely shot. Simple, well lit and the spirit of the horses' friskiness really comes across well.

Early morning Blues
by Xilebo

Comment by ellamay:
incredible image, i loved it and gave you a ten, glad to see you ribboned! And reading about the shot made me love it more.

Cleaning the wheat from husks
by Xilebo

Comment by Linden:
Congratulations! You deserve 1st place.

Color, lighting, emotion, creativity - your picture has it all! Well done!

Early morning Blues
by Xilebo

Comment by asitv:
last two entries in tow weeks... two ribbons.. great job... maybe you should pass on some of that advise (about good photography)...