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Nancy Bell
07-11-2011, 05:24 PM
I live near a high mountain meadow and the palette of flowers completely changes every few weeks. This is a perfect place to photograph flowers and at the same time allow the dog to run free instead of a routine walk :t3.

Mid-morning, partly cloudy, full frame.
Canon 1D-Mark IV, Canon 100 f2.8 macro lens, 1/500, f5.6, ISO 400, exp. comp. -1/3, tripod

All C & C most welcome.

Roman Kurywczak
07-11-2011, 05:37 PM
Hey Nancy,
As you are well aware.....I generally prefer more DOF......but this one works as is!!! I think if you opted for any more DOF.....the BG would become distracting.....right now.....it works very nicely! I might run another round of USM on the tip of the bloom (from where focus starts to fall of on the sharp areas) just to se if that gets a touch more in focus......but all in all.....I really like this one and it is very well done!

Dave Leroy
07-11-2011, 05:56 PM
I like the name of the plant and it does look like smoke blowing in the wind. Nice subject to photo.

Clean bg is a plus also.

As Roman mentioned only thought would be a bit more dof and then what happens to bg. One suggestion that Roman has made to me, and perhaps you have done this, is to try several shots at dieffering dof's and then pick the one you prefer.

Diagonal comp. adds to flow of plant.

Very nice.

Dave

Brendan Dozier
07-11-2011, 09:17 PM
Nice capture and composition, Nancy! Interesting looking plant and appropriate name. Like the details and sharpness, and very nice green BG to compliment the red. Has a nice flow to it. Well done!

Anita Bower
07-12-2011, 12:55 PM
Beautiful! Love the angle you chose--that "smoke" is blowing sideways. I am happy with shallow dof, and you have some of the "petals" sharp. Works for me. What city/town do you live in? I'd love to live at 8,000 feet! During my teen years I lived at 10,000 in the Andes of Peru. I do miss the mountains.

Nancy Bell
07-12-2011, 05:18 PM
I did try a variety of camera settings and more DOF did capture too much of the BG. I also did a little BG pruning in the field but did not see all the disturbing details on the back of the camera that clearly :e3. I might try again with these new thoughts.

Anita, I live 40 miles north-west of Ft. Collins, CO. My postal address is Livermore, but that really is ONLY a small post office, 15 miles away. It sounds exotic to have lived your teen years in the Peruvian Andes.

Steve Maxson
07-12-2011, 07:24 PM
Hi Nancy. Prairie smoke is a cool flower and we have them here in our prairie areas. The DOF works for me and I like the way the background worked out. If you try these again, also consider some backlit photos - those can be spectacular with this species. :S3:

denise ippolito
07-13-2011, 06:52 AM
Nancy, The lighting and flow of the flower with just the right amount of sharpness. I love the way the background looks like brush strokes.:S3: