A Tulip Center for the Bug Crowd!

[Arthur Morris]

This tulip center image was created at the Willem-Alexander Pavilion at Keukenhof, Lisse, Holland on last springs Tulip IPT with the tripod-mounted Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM Autofocus lens and the
Canon EOS-5D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/100 sec. at f/9 in Av mode.

BPN members who would like to join us in Holland next year and learn to see creatively with a variety of focal length lenses are invited to click here (http://www.birdsasart.com/include-pages/ipt-updates/) for details and apply a $200 discount. Denise Ippolito will be co-leading.

[Mitch Haimov]

I like the composition, Artie, and I'm a fan of abstract macro work. And I always like to see flower close ups that are not typical "seed packet shots." Where I struggle with this one boils down to the intermediate depth of field and the resulting competing areas of interest. That is, the are four elements in this image that are sharp or sharpish (large, curved petal UL to center; small, diagonal petal left of center, mitten-shaped petal left of that; and large petal UR corner) that don't seem to complement each other. IMHO this image would be stronger at either DoF extreme: Everything sharp or upper edge of that large curving petal sharp, the rest of the petal gradually fading to a soft wash of color and the rest of the frame quite soft. The shallow DoF approach (perhaps f/3.5 to f/4.5) would suit my personal tastes better, but there's a strong everything sharp contingent here.

Here is a quick and dirty approximation of what I'm thinking:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3684/9154929043_8ec5562eda_o.jpg

Hope you don't mind me playing with your art for purposes of repost...

Mitch

[Arthur Morris]

Don't mind at all. I do prefer my version to yours. I do most of my flowers (especially indoors) at a great variety of apertures, usually from f/3.5 or so to f/22. Then I chose the one that I like best. If you had left the diagonal petal edge sharp--it is on the same place as the upper one--I would likely have liked your version more. But I do appreciate your comments and the repost. Food for thought is always a good thing.

[Mitch Haimov]

And I agree that it would work with the diagonal edge sharp. Also would have been a better approximation of the result you would get with a wide aperture. Both work for me As so often the case, one scene/many options.

Here's quick & dirty II:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5547/9163632330_64d9857378_o.jpg

Mitch

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks again Mitch. I like this one better than your first repost but I still prefer the original post :).

[Arthur Morris]

ps: did you do the blurring with a Gaussian blur?

[Mitch Haimov]

Yeah, Gaussian blur with layer mask letting more of the blur through in the center/farthest away portion of the tulip. Thanks for letting me know what you think.

I like the second repost because the sharp petals lead my eye in a circular path within the image w/o the sharp UR pulling me out of the frame. Of course would prefer to done in-camera with selective focus.

[Arthur Morris]

Mitch. YAW and ditto. I actually had this one at f/3.5 and probably f/6.3 and deleted them both :). Along with f/13, f/16, and f/22.

[Jonathan Ashton]

These images always leave me thinking "why didn't I do that?" Very interesting images, I have to confess I lack imagination and when I try something like this I am left wondering, "why did I do that." Artie I did a few shots of our tulips after seeing your originals..... but I didn't post them:w3
I love the soft colours and gentle curves - very interesting image.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Artie. Critiquing abstract images like this one is pretty subjective and largely a matter of taste, I think. You have a nice mix of colors and a perfect exposure. After viewing the three versions of this image, my preference is for Mitch's first repost - because of the simplicity of the single sharp, curved petal edge - with everything else heavily blurred. :S3: