Dogwood season

[Diane Miller]

Canon 5D3, Sigma 180 macro, tripod, cloudy day and still air. (Major credit goes to the latter two items.) ISO 800, 1/640, f/9. I had to sacrifice DOF somewhere and decided the near petal and leaf would be the victims. It was a little too breezy to do a focus stack.

Minimal processing. In LR a slight crop for composition, darkened highlights a tad. To PS for some NR (not really needed), a touch of Detail Extractor and burned the edges a little.

Seeing it here I think I could drop the gamma a little.

C&C always appreciated.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like the composition and given the circumstances your options were limited, perhaps the limited DOF could have been exploited a little more effectively if you took the image from a higher angle so you were looking more downwards? I think then the bloom would have been perhaps in better overall focus - just a thought.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

I like the BG Dianne, and the softness of the front and rear petals I like. I just wonder if you could have found a more "prime" specimen?

[Diane Miller]

The blossom was about 4 ft off the ground and I'm 5 ft tall. Didn't have any way to bend it down short of going to get bailing wire. I have a Plamp, but I need an extension to be able to use it on the tripod for the working distances of the 180 macro for a full flower. And there was no good way to attach it to a sturdy branch in this case. I did shoot other blossoms more straight into them, but I don't think they're as interesting. I would like to do some focus stacks with these, but they're not easy outdoors.

I was attracted to the slightly worn blossom because it had more interest than a pristine one, and the coloration of the age spots worked well with the center and the BG.

[John Robinson]

Points been covered above Diane. One of my favourite flowers too. One of the reasons I didn't get on with the 180 was the working distance. Ihave a 150 but would go for a 100 in future had I the choice. I think dropping the gamma would beef it up a bit too.
Cheers
John.

[Diane Miller]

Thanks for the comments, everyone! I'll think about more DOF next time. I do think you're right, John -- it does look a little washed out now that I see it again.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Diane. There are some good comments above and it was interesting to see your thoughts on why you set this up the way you did. I like the comp, clean background, good sharpness within your DOF, and the good detail in the whites. On my monitor, the image looks a little flat - you might try increasing the contrast a bit to see if that helps. Overall, this is well done!

[Diane Miller]

I see your point about contrast -- will tweak the master file -- thanks!