Friendshipby
stupotComment by KiwiShotz: ::: Critque Club :::
What a great subject for a generic photo. I agree with others about how this almost has a 3D quality to it. That flower has some amazing visual properties, at times it looks like its moving. Isn't nature wonderful.
This meets the challenge well because it is a generic but interesting and attractive shot. No, its not spectacular but although it doesn't have a wow factor, it does have an invlvement factor. The flower is so intriguing that it stops you and requires you to examine it. Thus the image transcends the first barrier to mediocrity - passivity. I can thing of no worse condemnation for any image than getting a flatline response from a viewer.
Photographically you have good light, good exposure, good focus and an ok depth of field. The DOF I can't make my mind up about. Like the commenters who seem equaly divided between making it sharper or making it blurrier. Currently the eye is drawn to the background at some cost to the main point of interest. That's perhaps a little confusing or distracting and may be a reason for it not scoring higher.
I believe this reaction is more a result of composition than the DOF. I know I sound like an old broken record on composition and the Rule of Thirds but I believe photographers, artists and cinematographers ignore it at their risk.
In this case I'd like you to have a play with it by cropping it differently and seeing what is the most pleasing to your eye. Try moving it around until and save a copy with the flower centre on all four of the thirds intersecting lines. Then see what you have as background when you crop it in a 6:4 (card shaped) format. From the odd sizing of the image as submitted, I suspect this bothered you too and that you spent some time trying to get a pleasing composition. You may find from this exercise that the two background flowers become a feature or need to be cropped out. Only fiddling with the original will tell you for sure.
I'm actually tempted to take a copy and try it myself as a test of the Thirds theory but I'm strong, I can do this, I can keep my hands off. However, I *would* like to see it done and would like to see you post the results back in your portfolio and your comments here.
Lastly, a pet peeve about Photographers Comments. This is not just to you, but to all DPCers. If you are asking people to give of their time to consider your image in voting then it is more than a courtesy to take the time to write a few paragraphs about the shot, the day, the subject and the setup. This is a learning and sharing environment and we all want to learn. If you click the Critique box, then making that effort becomes an obligation.
Photographer found comment helpful.
