Buttercup

[Anita Bower]

I've been experimenting with hand-help photography, which is not my usual approach.
Nikon D300, 105mm macro, f3.3, 1/2500, ISO 640 (I was going in and out of sun and shadow and didn't always change my settings), aperture priority, auto focus.
Processed in Elements 10, Viveza to lighten the flower.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Anita you have the flower head in good focus and it is sharp. Due to the surroundings I think you have a green cast on the flower and the green stem looks very saturated to me. I would be tempted to take a green brush to the area around the flower head to blend in the background. This is not always easily seen when taking the image becasue you will have seen it at f2.8, when the lens stops down you pick up the background colours more readily, having said that I note you were still on a wide aperture so the answer would have been to alter the angle a little bit to put the flower on a more yellow area.

[Anita Bower]

Jonathan: Thanks for your comments. I took the image into Viveza, toned down the greens and upped the yellow on the flowers--you were right about how green it was. I also toned down the greens in the bg and desaturated the stem and leaves. I'm leaving the bokeh around the flower head as is. I like the dark colors.

[Bob Miller]

HI Anita....Like your repost! You might consider playing around with the crop! TFS

[Allen Sparks]

Hi Anita,
I like the composition with the stem arching into the frame. Repost is an improvement and color looks good to me.

Allen

[Anita Bower]

Thank you, friends. I did play with the crop as suggested.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Anita. I like how the lighting spotlights the flower and seems to make it glow! The repost is a clear improvement and the comp works for me, as presented. This is very nicely done!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Very nice with the repost Anita! I like the BG...but as usual would like a crop off bottom and left.....mostly to get rid of bottom foliage.....but that is me......so very nicely done!

[Anita Bower]

Very nice with the repost Anita! I like the BG...but as usual would like a crop off bottom and left.....mostly to get rid of bottom foliage.....but that is me......so very nicely done!
Thanks for your input. I usually crop close, but, with this image, I wanted the long stem and those curls at the bottom. This is not my usual style. :-)

[Arthur Morris]

I like the dark areas. If you had gotten one inch higher and moved the camera 1 1/2 inches to your left you would have centered the flower perfectly against the round whitish part of the BKGR. And me thinks that this would have been a big improvement for a variety of reasons.....

[Anita Bower]

I like the dark areas. If you had gotten one inch higher and moved the camera 1 1/2 inches to your left you would have centered the flower perfectly against the round whitish part of the BKGR. And me thinks that this would have been a big improvement for a variety of reasons.....
You make a good point about centering the flower over the lighter area. Thank you for your suggestions.

[Arthur Morris]

YAW Anita. Just as in bird photography, the best background is often a matter of the perspective you have chosen :)