Indian Paintbrush macro

[Gary Hamilton]

This image was taken on a slooooow day in Yellowstone. (I got my avitar image two days later.) This was shot through some evergreen branches--does it work?

Canon 40D
Canon 100mmm 2.8 macro
1/500 sec.
f3.2
ISO 500

[Jay Sheinfield]

Gary....neat shot, good BG and colors. That green OOG thing in the FG is a bit distracting. Not much to do about it, though..............

[Ken Childs]

Hey Gary, nice concept and great colors but for my tastes, there's too much of the fuzzy green. Cropping away about 1/3 from the bottom, taking it close to a square, could work because a little of the fuzzy green might look interesting. :)

[Gary Hamilton]

Jay and Ken: Thanks for your comments. I'll try the suggested crop as see if that helps.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Gary,
I agree with the crop recommendations above too......the green OOF area just takes too much attention away from the paintbrush for my tastes. While I think the shallow DOF works here....I hope you explored other ones as 1/500 sec allows you to sacrifice some SS to add to DOF. Wouldn't push the 40D ISO much further......maybe 640. Just some food for thought next time out!

[Gary Hamilton]

Thanks, Roman. I was going for that "shooting wildflowers through OOF blades of grass" kind of look only using an evergreen branch instead of grass. Appreciate all the feedback and will store it away for next time.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Gary. Just as a different perspective (we all have different tastes, you know :) ), I like the soft OOF green in the foreground and the inclusion of the second OOF flower stem. :) I would suggest cropping about an inch (as it appears on my monitor) off the bottom as I think that improves the comp. Keep them coming!

[Julie Kenward]

I'm with Steve - I don't mind the OOF part but I don't like how it fades away at the bottom so we can see better at the very last 1/2". I'd take some off the bottom and let the green stay.

I love this plant...it's nice to see it showcased here!

[Anita Bower]

I like your idea of shooting through evergreens, and the green and magenta colors work well together. I like the out of focus flower on the right paralleling the one of the left. I would crop some off the bottom up to just above where the green blob ends, and a bit off the right. I hope you keep practicing this technique.

[Thomas Herou]

Nice!
I also agree about the crop.A couple of cm's (about one inch) from the bottom
should do it.
I really like the softness of the blurred flower.

[Gary Hamilton]

cropped as many have suggested. thanks for all of your comments and advice.