Another Crabapple

[Rene Quenneville]

I tried to photograph these flowers "Artie's way". Direct sunlight, low contrast and clean soft background. Does it work for Flowers??
Today was an overcast day, perfect for this kind of picture. The soft background is grass OOF. f/8 allowed me a complete blur.

1/320s
f/8
ISO 400
150mm macro
fill flash TTL -1/3

[Charles Wesley]

Rene,

I added a little punch with CS4 to your nice image. Also used FocalBlade to increase image sharpness. May be able to go with more sharpness but was trying to not over do it.

Hopefully the stamens look sharper on your monitor. Let me know. Really like the BG and colors in your image.

Hope this adds to your nice work....
____________________
Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

[Bruce Murden]

I'm surprised this was direct sunlight. It doesn't look harsh at all -- so you nailed the exposure on this one. BG blur & color work great with the pink flowers. Nicely done!

[Dave Mills]

Hi Rene, Not an easy subject to shoot and get totally sharp. I like your original post. The colors are richer and the backround is darker. I do find the blurred flowers in the upper left a bit distracting.

[Julie Kenward]

I like the original post in colors and something between the two posts for sharpness. I think you nailed the exposure and you sure got a dynomite BG on this - the color really sets off the pinks!

[Mike Moats]

He Rene, I think both version work well, good details on the main subject and excellent BG. Nice light also.

[Brandy Katzen]

If your aim is to depict the flower as it pretty much looks, this is a good way to do it. Personally, and this is just my preference, I'd rather see more of the interaction between the light and the flower, and that calls for more use of back and side-lighting. Side-lighting better shows texture and depth. Back-lighting creates many different "effects", some being rather difficult to handle, given dynamic range limitations, but for myself, I find those approaches more interesting than straight, flat, front-lighting.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Rene,
I'm with Jules on this one....color of first....sharpness closer to second. I may have moved the BG group of flowers if possible. When working in the field a clothespin or small clamp do wonders in holding back unwanted elements without harming the plant.