Calla Lily

[Bob Miller]

I love Calla Lilies.....Took this last spring at Longwood Gardens.
Nikon D3s
1/160 sec at f16
ISO 800
180mm macro
All comments and suggestions welcome!

[Julie Kenward]

Bob, I can't decide how I feel about this one. On the one hand I love the flower and the leaf on the right but on the other hand I don't like how small the flower is in relation to the leaves and I don't like the OOF leaf on the left. You do have wonderful clarity and focus on everything but that one leaf but he's taking up an awful lot of the real estate so...hmmm. Still, a nicely lit subject and the detail on that right leaf is stunning.

[Dennis Bishop]

Bob, I agree that the flower is small compared to, especially, the right leaf. However, in my opinion, the lack of sharpness in the left leaf isn't a concern. The flower and the right leaf are such strong elements that the left leaf recedes into the background pretty much unnoticed when I view the image.

The lighting on the edge of the right leaf adds a lot.

[Ken Childs]

Hi Bob, I like that you went for a shot that wasn't all flower and I think it worked out well! There are a few simple things I think you could do to clean this up and make it look even better. There are a bunch of tiny black specks on the flower that could be cloned away and I would try to tone down the edge of the leaf in the UL....I like that you can barely make out the leaves in the BG but that one leaf edge keeps drawing my eye. I'm undecided about the bright reflection(?) on the right leaf....maybe toning it down a fraction would keep if from drawing too much attention. Overall this one works well and a few minor tweaks will take it up a notch or 2 in my book! :S3:

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Bob. Another strong image and you already have some thoughtful comments above to consider. Very nice lighting and good sharpness in the key areas and I like the overall look of the relatively small flower poking up among the large leaves. Like Dennis, I feel that the flower and right leaf really draw my eye such that the soft left leaf is not an issue for me. I would agree with Ken about cleaning up the little black specs on the flower. Overall, this is very nicely done.