Ruffled Cyclamen

I've been busy with an exhibit of my Amish photos (which has been well received), working to stop a huge digital billboard in our rural community (failed), visiting family (lovely) and taking an on-line flower photography course (which is stretching me).
I photograph Cyclamen each winter as they are the indoor flowers that get me through the gardenless winter. I used my 185mm macro for this--the photo class pushed me to start using this lens that I've neglected. A few textures and light level of Topaz Simplify Watercolor.

Anita,

Greetings. Beautiful! The curves pull me in and the color keeps me looking. I like how the flower center is reminiscent of an eye (even more in the thumbnail). I might crop a bit off the top, the ruffle competes a little to my eye. Thanks for posting.

Cheers,

-Michael-

I love the element of abstract design here! From the thumbnail I was expecting to see a composite of an eyeball! I like the real thing much better, though. I wouldn't change a thing.

Always good to stretch our horizons, but I hope you don't completely abandon the kind of work you've been doing. I find it simply wonderful!

Your processing is just great. I love the strong color in combination with the delicate tones of the rest of the image. The flowing curves are beautiful, too. It seems upside down to me, however. How would you feel about a vertical flip?

Hi, Anita, well, I'm glad your exhibit is being well received and it should be based on the Amish images of yours that you've posted here. And I hope you mean that the billboard failed to pass and not your effort to stop it. Good for you for taking an online class - it's good to stretch and get outside of our comfort zone but be sure and stay true to your own vision which is lovely as is this image:S3: I have a friend who uses that lens a lot and produces really nice work with it.

ditto above. Perhaps the part that is bothering Dennis re the flip is that vertical stamen (?) . We tend to think those go up not down, so maybe that's playing games with our thinking here. Beautiful technique.

Thank you all for your comments! I'm glad to be posting again. Have missed it.
Cyclamen grow like this. The flowers point downward. Do a search for Cyclamen to see images. Flipping it might look better to some, but it would make my mind go OOTB permanently.

Hang in there an keep your OOTB mind in tact :) We cyclamen ignorant ones have learned something about the flower. Still, a beautiful image!

I wondered about that and should've checked. The name, cyclamen, is familiar so I figured I must've seen some, but now I don't think so. Too bad. They're an intriguing flower.

Beautiful image Anita, I like it a lot. I really admire your work with flowers, it's excellent! I'm intrigued by Michael's crop idea.

So soft and delicate, and I love the way you have positioned it in the frame. Lovely Anita!