Emerging Rhododendron Bloom

[John Lowin]

This Rhodo was nearly killed by rabbits this winter as almost all branches have been girdled. Only very few are blooming at all. Here is one of those just beginning to open. I'm trying to decide if the image is too busy. Please let me know what you think. C and C welcome, I'm here to learn. - John

f/6.3 1/160 ISO 800
Canon 1D MkII
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
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[John Lowin]

Is this a better solution? I'm not as fond of a square image, but this may be less busy. Let me know what you think, - John

[Bob Allen]

I like the first image better than the second. The sidelighting on the hairy buds works well. But the light falling on the leaves on the left side BG is a bit distracting (and thus busy). The OOF flower in the top is not bad but the bright light falling on its pistil competes for ones attention; it would be a fair bit of work to clone it out. Might be easier to reshoot (a nice thing about garden photography) without that BG flower.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey John,
I only recommend this if the plant is yours....never in the wild!!! I use tweezers and a small pair of sciccors (mustache trimmer?)....and trimmed the lower bloom below the cluster of buds and quite possibly the BG one.....the rest of the BG is easy enough to tone down/blur....as the bud/bloom comp is very strong here.....and I'd still take the first crop! Nice sudued light and very nicely exposed. I especially like the silver light at the edges of the buds.

[Julie Kenward]

I prefer the first crop as it shows the entire flower w/stamen and the 2nd post crops it off so it feels "cropped."

I also love the silvery lighting to this...it's not too busy for my tastes but it is a very strong image.

[John Lowin]

Hi Roman and Bob, grabbed my wife's cuticle scissors and a tweezer and planned to sneak up on my Rhododendron (in my yard) and look what I found. :-) Almost all buds had fully opened. Added some gaussian blur and some selective levels control here. C and C always welcome, I'm here to learn. - John

f/8 1/320 ISO 800
Canon 1D MkII
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
hh




Hey John,
I only recommend this if the plant is yours....never in the wild!!! I use tweezers and a small pair of sciccors (mustache trimmer?)....and trimmed the lower bloom below the cluster of buds and quite possibly the BG one.....the rest of the BG is easy enough to tone down/blur....as the bud/bloom comp is very strong here.....and I'd still take the first crop! Nice sudued light and very nicely exposed. I especially like the silver light at the edges of the buds.

[John Lowin]

Hi Julie, appreciate your comments. I tried to follow Bob and Roman's suggestions and got quite a surprise today. - John


I prefer the first crop as it shows the entire flower w/stamen and the 2nd post crops it off so it feels "cropped."

I also love the silvery lighting to this...it's not too busy for my tastes but it is a very strong image.

[Bob Allen]

Thanks, Roman, for pointing out that we should only prune garden plants. I implied it (in my garden photography comment) and should have said it explicitly.