Yellow Flower

[Anita Bower]

I took this at Longwood Gardens Conservatory last week.
Nikon D300, Tamron 185mm macro, f4.5, 1/250, ISO 200, tripod, natural light.
Processed in Elements 10: clone, slight crop, contrast, levels.
I'm wondering if I should crop just a bit more off the top. Other comments also appreciated.

[Phill Luckhurst]

Lovely flower, well lit and focussed etc but for some reason my eye keeps wandering off it and concentrates on the background flower. Probably just me.

[Ron Conlon]

I like the composition, with the fore and back, in focus and nicely blurred. Yellow flowers naturally have a lack of tonal variation which makes composition a challenge, and I think you have found a pleasing solution.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I lkke the detail in the foreground flower but from a personal point of view I am confused. The flowerein the foreground is the main subject yet it is cropped and the flower in the background keeps pulling my eye away - sorry Anita this one doesn't work for me this time.

[Anita Bower]

A couple of comments mentioned the distracting aspect of the flower in back. I have changed the crop to see if that solves the problem. What do you think?

[Jonathan Ashton]

Yes big improvement, the background becomes more incidental and the subject is much stronger.

[Anita Bower]

Yes big improvement, the background becomes more incidental and the subject is much stronger.
Thanks! I agree.

[Phill Luckhurst]

Very nice, I much prefer that crop.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Anita. I like the juxtaposition between the sharp and OOF flowers. I liked the comp of the OP - until I saw the repost which is even better! Very nicely done!

[Diane Miller]

What Steve said! Lovely image! It's spring somewhere....

I'd be tempted to try for a little more detail in the yellows. Have you used Nik's Detail Extractor? (Part of Color Efex Pro.)

[Anita Bower]

Thank you all for the feedback. I, too, prefer the cropped version. Diane: I sometimes use detail extractor, but didn't think of using it on the petals. Will have to give it a try.