Cosmos bipinnatus Purityby
banmornComment by KaDi: Hello from the Critique Club!
I like this photo and I think there are plenty of reasons it "works." The lighting is interesting and crisp--the backlit near blossom seems very alive. The composition creates interesting tensions with the placement of the blossoms in two of the traditional rule-of-thirds spots. The black and white rendering focuses attention on the texture and line.
It's usually difficult to make a composition of two subjects work. I think this works because of the mirroring the second blossom does. The near blossom is backlit, light, crisp and full of detail. The far (and smaller) blossom balances this with solid lighting, shadowy, unfocused and modeled. These opposite qualities help play up the interest in the near flower.
The plane of the open blossoms gives a sense of diagonal direction (as does their relative placement)--these diagonals help give energy to the piece. The stems lend lines that help the eye travel, but the stems may be the weakest point of your image. Although I love the swoop of the nearest stem as it dives in and out of the corner of the image and leads the eye back around to the near blossom, the eye continues on toward the second flower and is tripped up by the other stem. Where the petals intersect with the second stem is, I feel, a weak spot in the picture. The eye wants to stay and figure out the complexity. I think a slightly lower or higher angle of view might have helped, then the petals would either fully overlap the stem or not at all.
I like the choice of black and white for your subject, it helps pull out the texture and detail in the blossoms. The black gives a solid support for the delicacy of the flowers.
Overall, a very fine image! I hope you took lots and lots of those nearly perfect blossoms while they lasted!
Cheers!
--Kadi
Photographer found comment helpful.
