Wild Sunflower

[Mitch Haimov]

Canon EOS 7D; Canon 180 mm macro lens; tripod, 12, 34, and 36 mm extension tubes; Nikon 6D diopter; manual focus and exposure (13 seconds at f/16); ISO 100.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5269/5578594312_97f22519bd_b.jpg

I found this sunflower growing on the edge of a road. So, at this magnification (well beyond life size), I had a fair amount of cloning work to get rid of black specks (that were on the petals, not the sensor). Other than that, I just did the raw conversion, curves for contrast and color corrections, and a mild unsharp mask. If I could reshoot this image, I would double the space between the left edge of the frame and the lower left edge of the petal.

As always, all comments welcome and appreciated!

[Brendan Dozier]

Great looking macro abstract, Mitch. Nice exposure, and really like the texture, detail & the rich & subtle variations of yellow.

[Anita Bower]

Nice job getting the waterdrop sharp. Nice colors and I agree with your comment of what you would do differently. TFS

[Mitch Haimov]

Thank you both.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Mitch. I would agree with your self-critique. You have a nice mix of yellows and the water drop is the focal point of the image and, for me, is what makes it work. I also like the slight diagonal comp. I'm seeing a number of tiny black specks scattered around the image that I think would be worth cloning to give the image a cleaner appearance. :S3:

[Ken Childs]

Hi Mitch, your self critique and those suggestions made by others pretty much covers anything I would have said.....having that water drop closer to a ROT position definitely would have taken this one up a few notches. :S3: