Broom

[Dave Leroy]

From a local park, although it does grow all over.
7D, 100mm 2.8 macro, 1/25, f/16, IS400, manual, tripod and FF.

I cleaned up a few spots here and there.

Dave

[Norm Dulak]

Dave.

I really like this soft yet sharp image. It's beautiful.

But while you may feel that the dark, heavy diagonal stalk is necessary to show support for the flower, I have a suggestion for you. I would crop out a little from the right side of the image, keeping all of the delicate green stem projecting from the rear of the blossom. Then I would carefully clone out the remaining vestiges of the dark, diagonal stalk, preserving the warm colors of your beautiful background.

Just a suggestion, but the result just might be interesting.

Norm

[Norm Dulak]

Hi again Dave.

To show you what I had in mind above, I've done a quick and dirty repost incorporating a possible version of my suggestion. I'm by no means certain whether this is the way to go. It just may be that the strong stalk is needed for balance, or to show support. Let's see what others think.

In any event, you've posted a beautiful image here.

Norm

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Dave. Beautiful soft yellows on this interesting and well photographed flower. Nice sharpness and DOF throughout. Norm's repost is worth considering - it does give the image a different mood. Is it better? - that's for you to decide. :S3: Well done.

[Dave Leroy]

I think your idea has a lot of merit Norm.
When I got home and had a better look at the stem I was not completely happy with it either.

The flower turned out nicely and I kind of like the idea of a stem. For me, right now, it seems to provide some grounding for the flower. I just need a better looking one.

I think I need to get a couple more photos with and with out the stem to see what i can come up with.

Thanks a lot for taking the time and providing some very good constructive input.

And thanks Steve. Always appreciated.
Dave

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Dave,
I'm OK with either your OP or Norm's repost.....with a slight edge to the repost for my tastes. I would smooth out some of the darker lines on the bottom in the BG........but very easy tweaks to a very nicely handled image!

[Brendan Dozier]

Real nice image and IQ on this, Dave. Norm's repost works nice too.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Dave, wonderful handling of sharpness and colors! I prefer the OP, I think it adds to the composition because its diagonal accentuates the diagonal of the upper petal of the flower. I like how the colors of the flower are echoed in the BG. Well done!

[Anita Bower]

I like both. Beautiful photo of this flower. I find yellows challenging and you did a fine job with them. I like the details of the stamen, etc. The yellow in the bg nicely echoes the flower.