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John Lowin
06-09-2009, 10:28 AM
This is something a little different from what is usually shown here. Some people may never have observed how cotton actually grows. I created this image of an opening cotton boll a couple of years ago. Photographed just outside Cowan, Tennessee, the field was a sea of white. Finding a boll that was just right took a little time. Cotton is somewhat unique, in that the plants have blossoms, forming bolls, opening bolls and fully open bolls all at the same time. Because of this, fields get picked several times.

I applied some Gaussian Blur and a very slight crop. Hope you like my image. C and C welcome. I'm here to learn. - John

f/16 1/200 ISO 100
Canon 1D MkII
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
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Julie Kenward
06-09-2009, 12:21 PM
John, what an interesting thing to see. I have to admit, I knew this is how it was grown but have never seen it up close before like this!

I love the detail that you have in the cotton boll but wonder about the choice of aperture. You really have a busy BG going on there and with all the different colors it's really hard to keep the focus on the boll IMO. Maybe an aperture of f8 would have worked better - kept your details but let the BG fade away a bit more?
Dave Leroy
06-09-2009, 03:50 PM
Really interesting story John; something I did not know. I really like th colours and the detail. Well done. Dave
denise ippolito
06-10-2009, 07:15 AM
John, It's an interesting image and I like the details you got. I would agree w/ Julie on using a different aperature. Worth a re-shoot IMO. I like the subject matter very much.
Mike Moats
06-10-2009, 08:48 AM
Hey John, great subject and you nailed the details, but have to agree on the busy BG. Shallower DOF is needed here.
John Lowin
06-10-2009, 10:37 AM
Can't reshoot. Image created a few years ago, cotton season is a long way off and the subject is seven hundred miles away. So I increased the gaussian blur and selectively desaturated some of the bg. Don't know if you'll like this better, so let me know. - John
Julie Kenward
06-11-2009, 09:33 AM
I actually do like that better, John. You might also tone down the whites in the BG cotton just a little bit so they are less competitive with the main boll. I think the blur really helped but toning down the highlights in the BG might help even more.

Nice repost!