Crab Apple Blossoms

[Julie Kenward]

It's good to be back online again! I missed you all so much! ;)

Here's an image from this past weekend - the crab apple trees are all about to burst here in KC. This one has the sweet morning light and the spring green grass in the BG. I think I'll probably go back and tone down that bright green leaf at the bottom of the frame but couldn't decide on it until now.

Canon 40D, EF 100mm f/2.8 macro
f4.5 @ 1/125th, ISO 200
Manual mode, pattern metering, handheld, natural daylight

[Christopher Miller]

Very lovely image, Jules. Got to love those beautiful spring colors! :) I like the lighting and shallow DOF. Well done.

[Julie Brown]

Hi Jules. Love the color, composition and lighting. I agree with you on toning down the bright area at the bottom. I'm wondering how it would look with a slight boost in contrast.:confused:

[Cheryl Flory]

I've been wondering how to shoot some of the spring blooming trees! very nice. I like this composition, almost like an explosion.. I also like the oof pink buds in the background.

[Julie Kenward]

Cheryl, I either go straight in on a single branch (like I did here) or I look for an area where there is one large group of blooms with unblossomed buds around it and shoot them that way. Sometimes I use the other flowering branches as my BG and other times I try to get the grass or sky to be the BG. If you use the branches for a BG make sure you go with a shallow DOF (for a 100mm macro lens that would be 5.6 or wider) or you'll end up losing the blossoms in the BG.

[Ken Childs]

Those 2 OOF buds in the lower left are bothering me for some reason. If you have a little more canvas maybe try a slight CCW rotation and crop so those 2 and most of the bright green leaf are gone.

[Barbara Kile]

I love the selective focus, Jules - the colors are bright and pleasing. The temperature of this image is on the cool side - wonder if you 'warmed' up the greens - would that make the greens seem less bright? Although it's fine the way it is.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jules,
I don't think f32 would work here but I do feel you may have needed to prune some of the blooms (if it was yours) along the edges...another vote for toning down. Definitely not the easiest subject!

[Mike Moats]

Hey Jules, like th comp, and agree on the brite area in the lower edge of the frame.

[Julie Kenward]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I will tone down the bright area but the other buds are probably staying - I really like the 3D look of the image; it's pretty much exactly what I visualized it to be. Barbara, I will look at warming up the greens a bit - was keeping it on the yellow side to help emphasize spring sunshine but I will take another look at it. Thanks!

[Barbara Kile]

It could be the monitors, Jules - the greens don't seem that 'yellow' as compared to what I shoot. I use cloudy WB most of the time, unless I want a cool image. Go with what seems right to you.

[Anita Bower]

Love the colors and composition here. I wouldn't change anything except that one green leaf you mentioned. I can't image how you managed to position yourself to get this particular angle.

[Julie Kenward]

Anita, the tree is on a hill so this branch was right at my height. I stood looking straight on and went from there!