Dianella flower

[Colin Driscoll]

Well, being the only one who really knew what I wanted for xmas, I bought myself the Canon 100mm IS macro and here's my first serious shot using it- lovely lens! It's the flower of a Dianella species (currently unnamed); the flower is about 1cm long. I'm happy with the detail- even showing the micropores at the end of the anthers that the pollen comes out from.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh296/MyPikkies/Wildflowers/Dianella_sp231209.jpg

50D, Canon 100mm IS macro, 1/125, f8, -1ev, iso320 HH

The flower was in the shade so I used a mirror to direct sunlight onto it.

[Anita Bower]

What an interesting flower! I love the colors and detail. The blurred BG sets off the flower. There is something that doesn't work about the stem and buds behind the flower. I find them distracting, but I don't have a solution to offer. Maybe trying a different angle of view?

You were smart to buy yourself you Xmas present! I look forward to more image taken with this macro lens.

[Don Lacy]

Hi Colin, Wonderful color and detail it looks like the the new 100 is a gem. I agree with Anita about the stem being a slight distraction and think if you could have gotten a different angle it would have helped.

[Julie Kenward]

Colin, welcome to world of one beautiful macro lens! You'll be hopped up on happy juice for the next six months at least. :D;):D It's a gorgeous lens and works beautifully with a nice set of extention tubes so get those on your birthday list!

I love the flower. I think you have excellent colors and nice tack sharp details but I definitely would have moved around and let the stem come in from the left or right lower corner so it was to the side of the flower and not intersecting it. Try it next time and see what you think from a composition standpoint.

I like the idea of using a mirror. Other good ideas are a small reflector, an old white t-shirt, a piece of aluminum foil... ;)

[Colin Driscoll]

Colin, welcome to world of one beautiful macro lens! .... a nice set of extention tubes so get those on your birthday list!

Thanks Julie, ahead of you there- already have a good set of Kenko's that work nicely with the 100. Hopefully I'll soon have a shot worth posting using them. Thanks for your comments.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Nicely done, Colin. Wonderful colors and neat BG. Agree with the others reg. the composition. Adding canvas to the top and left might help.

[Kurt Bowman]

Hi Colin....I agree with others about getting a different angle so the stem wasn't behind the flower, I might also have gne with f/11 or 13 to try and get the remaining stamen in focus, but that's just my taste. BTW, I also just traded my 100 macro for the IS version and the new lens rocks!