SittingPretty.JPG
by sonniejake

Comment by patio127:
I have to agree with Ursula- the focus does not quite work for me- tricky business- the color is to die for & that single BG edge is sooo sharp...

SittingPretty.JPG
by sonniejake

Comment by jomari:
Interesting composition and the pink is so pretty against the black.

SittingPretty.JPG
by sonniejake

Comment by ursula:
Another one where I really like the idea for the composition, and the colours, pink on black. For me, the focus isn't quite working on this one, mainly because my eyes are confused when looking at it, sort of like, where am I supposed to be looking here? And there are the distractions at the edges, and my eyes are drawn to them. But I really like the idea for this compo.

I See You.JPG
by sonniejake

Comment by ursula:
Alien scary!

In the Grey .JPG
by sonniejake

Comment by TCGuru:
I think a little D&B would have helped this be a more successful conversion for ya. There are just no bright sparkly whites to draw you in. Needs a bit of a higher contrast. Your framing is nice though and the complimentary leaf is wonderfully inspiring.

Pink Camillia.JPG
by sonniejake

Comment by TCGuru:
Wonderful flashing! I was wondering if you didn't catch some found light until I read the comments below :) It's very lovely either way and you did a great job of really making it pop out with the focus and complimentary background.

SittingPretty.JPG
by sonniejake

Comment by Paul:
Oh, now this is really interesting! I love the way the pollen is in focus and is peeking over the petal; the lighting with this background works really well too.

I See You.JPG
by sonniejake

Comment by Paul:
OK - the good stuff first: Great choice of aperture to get this DOF - it fits the image and also the general principles you have used for the composition are also good; it makes sense for the branch to exit the image at the corner.

I know you are happy to have some critique so here is my two cents: Although the main composition is OK, for me the crop at the bottom is too close to that flower and the position of the background branch is a little distracting. I've just had a slight play with it and rotating it about 5-10 degrees counter-clockwise seems to work quite well. I also think the image lacks a little punch - probably needs a little more exposure and a little more contrast - I wasn't too successful in trying that with this jpeg but it did get a little better - I also found that desaturating the yellow just a little really helped too.

Can I ask - are you shooting in RAW or just jpeg?

As ever this image has a lot more potential that what is on the screen - editing a RAW version would do justice to your good eye for an image.

I should put all of my comments in perspective; there are other contributing to this flower challenge whose feel for post-processing leaves me far behind so please take all of the above with a pinch of salt!

I See You.JPG
by sonniejake

Comment by patio127:
Now what is this pretty fluffy flower- i love the dof & how that black center is coming at you !

Pink Camillia.JPG
by sonniejake

Comment by jdixonsd:
This one works better IMO then the one you converted to b&w.