Stamen

[Ramesh Adkoli]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3509/3914715603_2938c54bca_o.jpg

The closeup of anthers and filaments of this flower make a for nice study of the stamen. Appreciate your views and comments.

EXIF: D700, 105mm Macro Lens, 1/50s, f/18, ISO 1600, tripod mount, available light
PP: Levels, curves, selective color, slight crop at bottom

regards,
ramesh

[Vida van der Walt]

Great pollen detail and I like the curved lines of the ??anthers?...or should I say filaments?. Sorry, I'm clueless as to the names of the different part of a flower.

[Ramesh Adkoli]

Thanks Vida. The curved parts are filaments.

regards,
ramesh

[Julie Kenward]

Ramesh, lovely color is the first thing I notice here. You did an excellent job on those saturated reds! I do wonder, though, if the filaments are your main subject here, why you didn't go for f32 and try to capture more of them in the focal plane? Did you choose f18 to keep the petals diffused or was there another reason? Just interested...

I like your choice of crop but I would take a sliver off the right side and get rid of that little piece of red popping through on the border.

[Ramesh Adkoli]

Thanks, Julie for your views. My focus was the stamen: the assembly of filaments, stigma and anthers. i had aligned the camera to the stigma, the longest part with the white top. You are right: I chose f/18 to keep the petals diffused. A light breeze meant, i had no more room on shutter speed even at ISO 1600! Could stop further in any case. I had tried flash, but could not get the impact of natural light. I will try the crop you suggested.

regards,
ramesh