Brilliance

[Ramesh Adkoli]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3533/4011772272_35e82f2c9c_o.jpg

This rose shone brightly in sunshine at a nursery in Rajahmundry. It was hot and humid, but the sight of such flower cooled things down! Appreciate your views and comments.

EXIF: D700, 105mm Micro VR, 1/200s, f/14, ISO 200, hand held, mid morning
PP: selective curves and selective colors to tone down highlights and yellows, cropped a bit from right

regards,
ramesh

[Steve Maxson]

A lovely flower! I like the comp, DOF, and the way you handled the whites and yellows, Ramesh. You might consider cloning the tiny black specks on the flower.

[Ramesh Adkoli]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2542/4012688345_71ccb5c6d0_o.jpg

Thanks, Steve. Here is the repost with cleaned flower.

regards,
ramesh

[Steve Maxson]

Nicely done, Ramesh - I like it.

[Julie Kenward]

Lovely flower, Ramesh. I can see why you were drawn to it - it really does have a luminance about it!

You chose to use f14 as your aperture and I'd like to know why. Did you try any other aperture choices that were a little more wide open - maybe something around f8? The reason I am asking is because the leaves in the BG are still pretty prominent and I feel they are taking a little of the attention away from the flower which is your main focal point here.

Also, I'd suggest next time you're out in this same situation, perhaps moving the camera so the blemised leaves and the "black holes" are out of the image - this will really help draw the eye to the flower and not to the BG quite so much.

One last thing - I can see how deeply yellow the center of the rose is and I think you've handled it well there but the outer leaves now feel a bit undercolored to me. You might try using the layer mask to paint a little bit of the color back into those outer leaves to help balance the color throughout the flower a bit more.

[Ramesh Adkoli]

Thanks, Julie for your elaborate comments. I appreciate that. As for my choice of f/14: my thought was to get the entire flower in sharp focus. I did not try other options. I agree, I should have tried.

I usually get up close while photographing flowers and there by avoid other distractions. On this visit, i did not have my tripod. Without a tripod, my hands shake when i get up close and i end up playing safe. I know you take your closeup photographs without a tripod and i am amazed at that.

I will try balancing the colors of leaves a bit. They do look dull. Thanks again.

regards,
ramesh