Gerbera Petals

[Julie Kenward]

I was playing around with some gerbera daisies yesterday to avoid looking at the snow storm that was raging outside and I tried some with the extension tubes on and some in camera blurs. I think this is one of the extension tube images but I'm not positive...and it could always be an in camera blur WITH extension tubes!!! Who knows...

I like the sweep of the petals but I'm not sure I love the darker color in the creases - but desaturating it made it go flat and that didn't work so if anyone has any other suggestions...

Canon 40D, EF 100mm f/2.8 macro, Kenko extension tubes
F2.8 @ 1/30th, ISO 400 (Very little natural light because of the storm)
Manual mode, handheld, on camera flash set to "evaluative"

[Randy Stout]

Jules:

I actually think it needs the darker areas to give it some sense of form. It makes me think of a black and white image where you have to rely on tonal variations to make the image work.

I am uncertain about the amount of blur. I tend to like at least some relatively sharp areas in my blurs (the eye in a bird blur for example) to act as an anchor to the image. The lowest dark crease is fairly sharp in areas, but I am not sure if it is enough to work for me.

I guess I would have to say, since I am a bit torn, that it doesn't really set the hook right away and draw me in.

Wish I could be more specific.

Randy

[Charles Wesley]

Jules,

Very nice artistic floral image. Do you have any other photos in this sequence where the LR area has dark creases?

Thanks for sharing...
____________________
Charlie Wesley
St Augustine Beach, FL

[Ken Childs]

Hey Jules,

I feel it absolutely needs those darker areas. As Randy said, one sharper area would be nice and I think that lower crease looks close to what's necessary. Maybe some selective sharpening on the upper right section of that crease would help.

Your snow is headed this way but I think we're going to stay warm enough for it to melt as soon as it hits the ground.

[Desmond Chan]

I like the color and the composition, but I'm not sure about the blur. It seems to me the blur make it looks like an out-of-focus image. Perhaps it's because there's nothing for me to see in this image to suggest that there should be blur in this photo (like in a landscape where we could see some grasses swaying) :)

[Markus Jais]

Jules, I like the fantastic colors and this shot. The dark areas are great IMHO. The diagonal lines are great.
The only thing I miss are some really sharp areas in the shot.

Markus

[Julie Kenward]

Thanks everyone. I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong with it but knew it just wasn't cutting it for me. Your suggestions and comments really help. I'll take another run at it and try for more sharpness.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jules,
I'm sorta with the rest on more sharpness.....B4 tossing.....go with crop across bottom...eliminating the darker band in the LRC entirely.....this puts more attention on the sharpest area.....did try it with a browser crop.....seems to work better for me that way. Let me know your thoughts.

[Julie Kenward]

Good idea, Roman...I'll give it a try!