Spiderwort

[Cheryl Slechta]

This is a weed - spiderwort that I let grow in my garden because I like looking at them:S3:
I did a slight NR and USM. I liked the S-shaped curve.
Thanks for looking. Comments and suggestions appreciated.
Canon 7D, 100mm macro, f/11, 1/30, ISO 400, tripod.

[Anita Bower]

Wonderful photo of a Spiderwort! Love the detail, the little pistils (?) sticking out, the purple against green, the curve of the stem. I usually wait until the flowers are open but have had little success getting a good photo. This one sings. Spiderwort may be a weed in Florida, but in many states it is a native wildflower. I have them in purple and blue. :bg3:

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Cheryl,
I think you composed this nicely. I do think you could go a bit darker and go down a few points in brightness....just to see if you get any more detail in the lighter areas. I would also tone down the lighter curved area on the LL and eliminate the digonal ligther strand also in the LL.....just pulls the eye. I do think if you had repositioned yourself ever so slightly in the field you may be able to eliminate those areas in the future attempts. Overall, some minor tweaks will make this strong comp work even better!

[Mitch Haimov]

Interesting subject and composition, Cheryl (I am unfamiliar with spiderwort). I agree that the brights and mid-tones could both be darker.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Here is an attempt to address the suggestions made. Let me know if it is an improvement.
Anita - "weed" was a very inelegant word for wildflower:e3 I love spiderwort and they grow along our back roads . I transplanted some in my yard and they volunteer in my vegetable garden where they have a place of honor.

Thanks for your comments.

[bhavya joshi]

nice one cheryl .. nice details and looks interesting .. first time i seen this flowers thanks for sharing..:S3:

[Anita Bower]

Nice job in eliminating that line in lower left. For some reason, I still like the lighter version. It is probably just personal preference.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Thanks Bhavya and Anita:S3: Anita, I'm partial to the OP also. I read an interesting article about spiderworts recently and they can detect radiation. The flowers will turn pink when they're exposed to even slight amounts of radiation and they've planted them near some nuclear power plants for monitoring purposes. I can't remember where I saw the article but there were a lot of interesting aspects of the plant.

[Brendan Dozier]

Nice image & composition, Cheryl. Good job with the repost. Like how you handled the DOF on this, and nice soft BG. The only minor thing I see is in the URC on the OOF portion of the leaf there is a small yellow spot with some strands which distracts just a little. Nice work! :S3:

[Mitch Haimov]

Good job on the repost--I do prefer it to OP.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Cheryl. Roman made some good suggestions above - leading to your repost which I prefer. I like the flow of the s-shaped leaf (?) - and I would like it even more if it was sharper in the UR. At f/11, you had some DOF to work with though the background, of course, becomes more of an issue at higher f-stops. :S3:

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Cheryl, great advice already given. I think a little more room around would have made the S-curve come out better. I like the purples in the repost, but think it still needs a little more work on balancing the light and dark areas. Agree that the OP is a little too bright. Hope to see some images of the flowers as well!

[Cheryl Slechta]

Brendan, that spot is a spider - I left it in as a pun:S3:


Nice image & composition, Cheryl. Good job with the repost. Like how you handled the DOF on this, and nice soft BG. The only minor thing I see is in the URC on the OOF portion of the leaf there is a small yellow spot with some strands which distracts just a little. Nice work! :S3:

[Cheryl Slechta]

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. I appreciate the input - I've got a lot to learn:S3:That's why I'm here.