I’ve been wanting to do this shot for a while now just never got around to doing it, but this challenge seemed right for it. I’ve seen these Lily of the Nile flowers at work with the sun shining through and thought that would be a nice shot. I will probably be hammered for the shallow depth of field here, but I was trying to be a little different.
Set up on my dining room table. Black backdrop, 100w artist lamp behind left, whiteboard to right for fill. Sprayed with a little water.
Editing:
Some slight adjustments in raw
PS:
Basic contrast/saturation adjustments
Cloned out a small hair thingy under the flower
USM
Cropped
Border
Save for web
Statistics
Place: 9 out of 239 Avg (all users): 6.5854 Avg (commenters): 8.0833 Avg (participants): 6.3960 Avg (non-participants): 6.7692 Views since voting: 2050 Views during voting: 308 Votes: 205 Comments: 16 Favorites: 2 (view)
Where was this hiding? Great shot for the challenge, but strange that I never saw it before. Love the intense color and rich contrast. As you suspected, a little more DOF might have made the difference between 9th and another patch o' color by your name. It's hard to feel sorry for a 6.5 though- congrats!
Well, it's a bit difficult to add suggestions to photos which place so high, due to the fact that there really isn't much that can be improved upon.
I like the lighting very much. It does make this photo, which makes it perfect for the challenge.
The colors are rich and beautiful. I really like the purple with green against the black background. It stands out very well this way.
Angle and framing/cropping are good. I like the centered comp you chose. I think it works so well because the stem is off centered. Had the stem been centered as well, I don't think it would have worked so well.
The focus is wonderful. Really crisp in the areas that are in focus. The DOF though COULD have been a bit wider, but I think being narrow dosen't hurt the photo at all.
Overall a really nice shot, sorry I can't offer any advice for improvement, but as you can see by your score, it doesn't really need any improvement. Congrats on this beautiful photo.
~Heather~
All I can say is, I sure hope you make this a print, because I want to hang it on my wall. An amazing shot that took my breath away the moment I say it. I'm not much for flower shots, overall, but this is truly a different flower shot. LOVE IT! 10
This is a really strong picture!!! Perfectly focused, and striking with the black background. I do see the light shining on the center too. Good job. Oh, and I do like your border on this a lot! It really adds to it.
Beautiful colors and composition, lovely on all counts. I might have gone with a slightly deeper depth of field to get more of the buds in focus, but I think that's strictly a matter of personal taste. 10.
Wow, this is an outstanding image! I do think this shot would be better with a bit more DOF, but everything else about it is absolutely masterful. Really great job!
Add photograph to your favorites
Add photographer to your favorites
Photographer found comment helpful.
