Longing to belong
by Urho

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment.

I love the concept of humanizing the flower such that it is expressing a desire to belong and it stands all alone with the girl & her mother sharing a moment together in the distance. This is very different from just a floral still life. You use the flower to tell a story. This image has strong potential but needs work on compositional placement so that it really shines! There is a bit too much negative space that does nothing for the composition overall. I suggest zooming closer to have the mother and daughter fill the right half of the composition. Then the yellow tulip would dominate the left half with the stem coming out of the left bottom corner and it leaning it a little more towards the girl & her Mom. Bring those three characters to the front to the stage and you will have a top notch image that tells a strong story.

in the garden
by jgirl57

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment.

You have captured some very lovely colors of morning glories growing in the garden. The lighting is very good on the flowers on the left 2/3 of the frame. The right 1/3 has a little too much sunlight on them that they suffer from overexposure. There are two options you could try to make sure that does not happen. The easiest is zooming in on the flowers that are not in direct sunlight and expose the frame for just them. Second is to use your computer's histogram function for the graph will tell you if the composition is too dark, balanced or too light (some cameras will also have the function in reviewing picture in the viewfinder showing blown hightlights). Overall the composition has good bones about it, but needs a little more work to give it some visual punch. The other thing I would recommend to improve the visual appeal of the photo more is to give your audience a main focus for the eye to rest on before drinking in the full scene. There are so many flowers here I don't know where to look first. The blue morning glory in the top left would be a good starting focal point for your floral still life. Zoom in, have it dominate the top left corner so that the eye then can travel down to see the few pink/red flowers that would fill in the rest of the frame.

Heart Goes On
by pgirish007

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment.

The bokeh hearts are an interesting addition to the floral still life. However I think they serve to distract attention away from the main subject rather than complement it. As the composition rests now the flowers only appear in 30% of the composition and they are in competition with the large amount of negative space occupied with hearts. I think you do have a great idea it just needs better framing. I think that if you had just a few hearts (as well as less colors on the hearts) and had the orchids fill the frame more than it each would work to complement each other better.

Delicate.
by Jules1x

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment.

I love the light on this floral shot - it shows off the delicate hues of the pinks. I do like the bokeh in the backdrop for those pastel hues of the natural environment complement the flower, but I think that there is too much negative space. I think the composition would be even stronger if you zoomed in closer to the first flower in the foreground such that it now fills a 1/3 of the frame on the left side. The flower in the backdrop would still be in the frame but appear in the far right - and you should not lose those fabulous green/yellow bokeh circles I see in the top part of the composition. Get at a slightly lower angle to shoot up at the flowers so those bokeh circles would then dominate the full backdrop. Just my two cents.

Dew
by beatabg

Comment:
Voted earlier, bumping up, and coming back to comment.

Fantastic zoomed in close-up of the center of this flower. The yellow and reds are very bold and vibrant. Love the details seen from the dewdrops to the petal texture to the details of the red radial fan of the center. Composition is also very pleasing where you have the stigma (I think that is what the exuding center 'stem' is called) coming out at a diagonal to the bottom right portion of the frame. You really give your audience a lovely and colorful close-up of this flower. Well done.

Fireworks
by Enlightened

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment.

Lovely close-up of this floral bursting forth. Lighting and colors really pop nicely off of the bokeh background.

Buttercups and Barbed Wire
by karmat

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment.

I think the perspective and the light that really makes the colors pop on the flowers are the strong points of this composition. I find it interesting that you decided to include the barbed wire in the shot. I am thinking it was intentional to show the contrast between things of delicate beauty (the buttercup flowers) and things that are ugly (the barbed wire). However the composition of the barbed wire in the top corner seems haphazard and most would mistake it to have no meaning other than it was perhaps an oversight. Also there are so many flowers scattered throughout the scene that it confuses the audience to think that they are the main focus rather than on of the main actors in the scene. If indeed it was intentional I think this has potential if you framed and composed the shot better. First off to show your audience there is symbolic meaning to the barbed wire being placed in the shot you should have them act as leading lines by composing it that the wire cuts across the frame at a diagonal ending at the top left and bottom right corners (might take a bit of work positioning yourself to get the shot but it will definitely be worth it to signal strongly to your audience that it is meant to be in the shot). Next you could angle the shot to have a few of the yellow flowers also come at a diagonal coming out from the left side extending to the right. They would almost act like crossed swords with the barbed wire or as nature escaping the boundaries set by the wire to cross over to freedom on the other side. The placement of flowers may not happen naturally so you may have to 'cheat' in that you would pick the flowers and then arrange them so that you would/could achieve the angle needed for the composition. This is just a suggestion based on an educated guess that you meant to include the barbed wire for a reason given that the title you choose serves as a clue.

Is it raining with you?
by vawendy

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment.

Fantastic light on the petals of the this flower. Love how it illuminates the petals allowing all the texture/veins to *really* pop visually. The black backdrop also allows the flower to stand out from it's environment. The motion of the rain, while an interesting touch, seems out of place in the shot. Had the shot been done outside with greenery or natural environment it would be more natural (of course the rain would have to be coming from a hose or watering can because we know Mother Nature never co-operates with a photographer's schedule:-) ) Here with the studio/indoor lighting on a black backdrop it just looks odd and out of place. The rain is a unique addition, but I think it draws too much attention away from your main subject rather than complementing it.

Sunshine
by franktheyank

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment.

I like the bold and vibrant yellows and oranges in this sunflower shot. There is also some nice detail in the texture of the petals. I think this is a good shot but has potential to be even better if a few things were done. First is that the center portion of the sunflower that is in the shot needs a bit more light. I am thinking that the petals are backlit to get the lovely colors to shine so either you would need to have a small spotlight (flash)light shining on the center portion of the flower or a small portable reflector to bounce the light onto the the area in shadow. Next is composition. You give your audience a great close-up to see details but in this case it is a little too close. Pull back just a little bit to allow the full sweep of the petals to flow out to the edges of the frame. The leading lines of the petals are cut off on the left and bottom left of the frame - it feels 'interuppted' when I think it would better if it flowed freely to fill that side of the frame.

Backyard Surprises
by spynn

Comment:
Voted earlier coming back to comment.

Nice bright colors and some details on the flower. Composition has the flower fill the frame but I think it would be stronger if you pulled back just a little to capture the full flower with a touch of negative space off to the left. It is not much but maybe a slightly higher shutter speed and/or higher aperature might yield stronger details texture in the pink petals (it is faint but there) and boast contrast in the white center as that a few on the top have blown highlights on my monitor (it is not too bad but just a touch here and there on the white center 'petals' on the top left mostly)