Sunflower

[Anita Bower]

I took this at Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania, USA yesterday. Nikon D300, Sigma 105mm macro, tripod, f10, ISO 160, 1/100 sec. Manual exposure, Live View focus. Overcast sky as bg. Processed in Elements 10: clone, high pass, saturation to darken green. I wish I'd included more of the right side of the flower.
Comments and critiques welcome.

[Jason Stander]

Hi Anita:wave:... love the concept and the comp... looks like a studio image... great detail... would just add a little contrast otherwise VWD!:w3

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like it very much the composition looks fine to me though I wonder if the bottom right sepal should nor have been chopped off. I think you have just the right amount of sharpening, not too much but enough to bring out the finer detail.

[Stuart Frohm]

Nicely done. Although Mr. Ashton raises a legitimate point about the chopped off sepal, and I would enjoy seeing a version which retains the entire sepal, the chopping doesn't bother me in this case.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Anita. I like the studio look - reminds me of my insect shots. Nice detail throughout and good job handling the bright yellows. The folded over petals add interest and I like the comp - except for the already mentioned clipped sepal on the right (not a deal breaker for me, but I think the image would be even better if the tip of the sepal was included. Very nicely done!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Anita, well seen! I have to admit that I would have overlooked this particular flower with those closed petals. Excellent in every way!

[Anita Bower]

I appreciate all the helpful and supportive comments. I finally figured out what you all meant by cutting off the sepal. :e3 I added some canvas and extended the sepal a bit. I agree, this is an improvement. Again, many thanks!!:S3::bg3:

[Anita Bower]

Anita, well seen! I have to admit that I would have overlooked this particular flower with those closed petals. Excellent in every way!
thank you. It was the closed petals that drew me to this flower.