Gladiolus

[Norm Dulak]

Nikon D300 w/105 mm f/2.8 micro VR lens, tripod mounted
ISO 400; Matrix metering -0.33
1/1000 sec @ f/5.6

Numerous beautiful images posted on this forum have come from Longwood Gardens. But since we can't always be there, it sometimes pays to look around our own back yard. This gladiolus outside Linda's office caught my eye yesterday.

All comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome!

Norm

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Norm, I like this very much. The composition works for me and the colours are lovely. I also like the diffused BG - it sets off the flower beautifully.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Norm,
The light and textured BG are fine with me.....I just think Gladiolas are some of the hardest flowers to photgraph! I do think placing this more on a slight diagonal....even if you had to turn the camera....would help strengthen the comp as it is a bit static now......I would also explore a few more angles to see which shows it off the best. I don't have even one I'm thrilled with.....tough flower....so only way is to keep at it. As presented though....I think you did about as well as could be expected!

[Julie Kenward]

I love what you did with the flower - it's all in focus and nicely presented (although a slight diagonal as Roman suggested would add more interest). I'm not a big fan of the black areas in a mixed BG. I'd rather see light green and dark green than to see large patches of black - but that's just my personal preference.

[Norm Dulak]

Thanks for the good suggestions. I agree that angling the flower would be an improvement, so it would have been a good idea to rotate the camera a bit before tripping the shutter. I'll look to do that in the future where appropriate. Because I framed the image during capture a bit tightly, I don't have much latitude PP for canvas rotation and cropping. Still, I can manage a 7 degree clockwise rotation, and even that looks a bit better.

Thanks again!

Norm

[Anita Bower]

I love the dual colors of this Gladiola. I think your choice of where to cut it off was a good one--I find this one of the most challenging aspects of photographing Gladiolas. You chose a good angle to show off the beauty of the individual blossoms. I would lighten the dark areas of the bg. The straight up and down position doesn't bother me, probably because my flowers also end up that way. :-)

[Norm Dulak]

I love the dual colors of this Gladiola. I think your choice of where to cut it off was a good one--I find this one of the most challenging aspects of photographing Gladiolas. You chose a good angle to show off the beauty of the individual blossoms. I would lighten the dark areas of the bg. The straight up and down position doesn't bother me, probably because my flowers also end up that way. :-)

Thanks for your comments Anita! I especially value your opinion, because of your own artistically and technically excellent flower postings.:)

Norm