Bachelor Button

[Anita Bower]

Taken in my garden.
Nikon D300, Sigma 105mm macro, f 4.8 ("relative"), 1/50, ISO 200, tripod, natural light. PP: PS7, basic adj.; slight Orton; crop.

[Julie Kenward]

Love the blues, Anita! Man, I wish the petals in the front bottom of the flower were all included...I really miss the tips here! That said, I still think the image is strong and love the light DOF you've chosen. Very ethereal and whispy feel to this one. ;)

[Anita Bower]

Love the blues, Anita! Man, I wish the petals in the front bottom of the flower were all included...I really miss the tips here! )
Jules: I just looked at the original, and I might be able to redo it with the tips showing. Will work on it tomorrow morning. Thanks for the feedback.

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Beautiful colors and dreamy feeling! I like the comp but also wish the tips of petals were included. I'm waiting for the other version!;)

[Ken Childs]

Anita, I like the color and overall soft look of this but I find myself wishing that the tips of the front petals were sharper. I agree that the cutoff petals should be included.

[Anita Bower]

Here is a version with both tips showing. It gives a different feel to the image. The PP might be a bit different as I had to redo the whole thing. What do you all think?

[Julie Kenward]

I like it! :D

[OvidiuCavasdan]

I like the repost better! Nice one!:D

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Anita,
This will be a first for me;).....but I like the softness of the OP!!! That being said.....I agree with the petal recommendation. Since you mentioned you had more room.....I circled in red on the repost where my interest is.....so adding to the top.....to include the stamen on the left.....makes it for me....you may even consider rotation this CCW 1 degree and making sure the rest is in.....I think the repost is too sharp!....never thought I'd say that about a selective focus image:2eyes2:!

[Anita Bower]

Roman:

I appreciate the care you take in looking at the images and the detailed critiques you provide! Thank you!

You noticed that I didn't apply any Orton effect to the repost. Good eye! I'm posting a third version, with Orton added to soften the image. I only had a little more room at the top--not as much as you wanted--but I left all of it in. I left more on the right than you might like--I like the green on the right balancing the green on the left. I also didn't rotate--I tried, but the lower edge is a bit tight for that. I may have left too much on the left. What do you think?
:D

[Hazel Grant]

yep, 3rd one is best of both worlds...the soft ethereal and just enough sharpness of the tips.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Anita...Yep...3rd time was the charm!!! Exactly what I was talking about! Hope you are liking it too!

[Anita Bower]

Thank you all for your comments which improved this image. What a great group of photographers we have here!:D