Alpine flower head

[Jonathan Ashton]

Canon 50D Canon 180mm macro Gitzo tripod and Mongoose 3.5 head, mirror lock up and cable release, ISO 100 1/30 sec f11 fill in flash 1/4 power
Another shot I took after sulking over my lack of success in finding dragonflies! I attempted to balance the light on the subject with that on the background. I took in the image indoors, the background is my back lawn. I suppose the stem is comparatively dark, but that is what it was - maybe I should have cloned that tiny bit by the petal at half past?? Not too sure really I reckon my intention was to record an accurate image of an imperfect flower.

All comments welcome.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Jon, another lovely flower! I can tell from your images that the 180mm Canon macro is as fine a lens as the 100mm, which I had the pleasure of testing out once. Some minor points of critique: one stop down may have brought the base of the stamen and the slip of one of the LR petals completely in focus, but its well done in its current form anyway. The left part of the flower seems a bit dark. You could selectively brighten that up maybe. I also think that the color of the background does not compliment the flower. It's too dull and gray. Some folks here use artificial BG's, maybe that is something for you to look into. The alternative is to water your lawn more often :bg3:.
I would have cloned out the little dark spot next to the petal.

[Anita Bower]

A beautiful little flower with an unusual and lovely color. The indoor light works very well--soft. I like the composition. The dark stem is fine with me. Since you suggest it, cloning that bit at 6 o'clock might be a nice touch. I'd also clone the black spot on petal just above 9 o'clock. I don't think those clones detracts from the imperfect, as-is look of the flower. The left side could be lightened up just a bit. Again, the bg is fine with me. Thanks for sharing.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jonathan. I think you succeeded rather well in your intention. :S3: - not a bad alternative when the dragonflies aren't cooperating. I like the soft, even light, the comp, and the clean background (though there is a sensor dust spot in the LLC & URC). The image is very sharp where it most needs to be. If this was mine, I'd clone the bit of black at 6 o'clock. You might also consider selecting the background and experimenting with saturation/vibrance/color balance to give it a little more punch - but not so much that it competes with the flower. Overall, this is well done.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thank you for the C&C everyone as ever it is very much appreciated.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jonathan,
I think you did very well balancing the flash and ambient. The tweaks mentioned above will definitely take this up a notch!