One from the garden

[Markus Jais]

Taken in my mother's garden.
EOS 7D, 3.5/180L, f5.6, ISO 100, 1/80, tripod, cable release, MLU and waiting for a moment when there
was no wind.
Because of harsh sun light, I put a diffuser over the flower.

slight crop at top, bottom and right to get rid of some green on the right.

I tried to position the flower against a BG with other, OOF flowers.

This is another example why I recommend the 3.5/180 over the 2.8/100 (which I also own). With the shorter focal length, the BG would have been a mess. I shoot 90% of my flower images with that lens.

Markus

[Mike Moats]

Hey Markus, I like the position as it has the flower looking into the scene. Good soft feel but still sharp where it needs to be.

[Julie Kenward]

Markus, I feel like the blue of the flower is getting lost in the blue BG a bit. Might try to lighten or darken the BG so it isn't exactly the same shade as the flower is. Also, the white could use a bit more "pop" - perhaps a tad more contrast or brightness?

I like the position of the flower in the frame but would probably take some of the room off the right side - maybe a half inch or so?

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Markus, wonderful composition and lovely blues. I like how you managed to make the flower stand out from the blues in the BG. I would consider cropping out the green areas on left and right altogether.