Another Anemone!

[Craig Thompson]

Whew!! Say that 5 times real fast!!! ;)

This is a composite of 4 or 5 images, processed in Helicon focus to give me enough dof to encompass the center of the flower. I purposely chose "not" to bring the rest of the bloom into focus and let the petals remain oof to place even more emphasize on the sharp focus @ the center of the flower!

All images used in composite shot in 14bit, uncompressed .NEF, with Nikon D300s, ISO 400, 1/350th sec. @ f6.9. 200mm f4 micro (MF), PK13 & PK 12 extention tubes, gitzo tripod.

Initially processed in Helicon Focus Pro for dof, then adjusted & converted in CS3. Image adjustments were small bump up in curves, slight saturation adjustment, and smart sharpened. cropped @ 8x10 proportions, sized, converted to jpg & posted!

I hope you like it! :D

Craig

[Julie Kenward]

Craig, I like this but there are a few minor things that I think could improve upon this image. First, I think you could still use a slight boost in contrast or levels on the whites and yellows - they feel just a tad dark on my monitor.

Compositionally, I like the set up to this but I still believe it could have been even stronger had you managed to capture a little of the white petals at the back edge of the flower. Moving a little more above the flower instead of so much to the side and not only would you have captured that back petal you would also have minimized the loss of depth on the front petal as it would have been closer to the ideal focal plane of the camera lens.

I do like your choice of crop on this one and this is definitely the strongest of the three anemone images so far IMO.

[Harshad Barve]

Another vote for contrast boost , lovely yellows and best among the three
TFS

[Dave Leroy]

Lovely shot Craig. Of the three, this is the one I prefer, although I also liked the first alot. Nice to see all of the centre in focus, and I like Julie's idea of being a tad higher. Well done, Dave

[Anita Bower]

I love it! Anemones are one of the joys of late summer and you captured this one beautifully. Great use of Helicon Focus. I've wondered about its usefulness for flower macros. Do you use it much? Do you find it helpful? Here, it allowed a smooth bg and sharp center.

[Mike Moats]

Hey Craig, nice work, love the details on the center and also like the soft dof on the petals.