Went out behind the shop to take Rusty (the cat) for his after lunch walk. I had been looking for a picture for the 50 Days in the life... self challenge & noticed the nice yellow honeysuckle standing out against a bunch of green leaves, right as the camera was focusing this nice bee flew in for the picture.
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Place: 94 out of 174 Avg (all users): 5.5104 Avg (commenters): 6.3333 Avg (participants): 5.1781 Avg (non-participants): 5.7143 Views since voting: 1472 Views during voting: 273 Votes: 192 Comments: 8 Favorites: 0
This is a pleasant image to encounter! I like the realistic feeling of the colors...saturated, yes, but believable. The bee makes the image...lucky he flew in just in time for the shot!
The composition is satisfying. There's not too much or too little of anything in that regard. I especially like the way the shapes of the petal echo the shapes of the bee's wings. Nice repetition in this image to help the viewer stay with it longer.
The frame was a good idea because it helps contain the image stopping the eye from wandering out of frame. But I do think it's a little over done. IMO, the frame becomes a feature because of its color and 3-D quality...simpler would be better.
Generally I think the technicals are well handled. Good focus and sharpness. Nice DOF. The only feature (other than the frame) that I find distracting are the red stem and the reddish older blossom. Perhaps a little selective desaturation along the red channel would tone those items down and keep the subjects foremost.
I think the relationship to the challenge topic is fair. The wings really aren't the subject here. I agree with the comment that a bit of fill light might enhance the challenge subject. Or, if the bee had cooperated for a while, you might have chosen a lower angle of view to bring the wings further into the frame.
While the bee is well exposed, I really don't see wings as the center of this challenge. However, due to the great colors, I still feel it deserves a good score.
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