Just a Hanging Hibiscus

[Arnold Dubin]

I recently took the Red Hibiscus Flower while I was on walking around Eau Gallie Library. It caught my eye of contrasting red and green and a black BG. I used my Nikon D200 with my new Nikon 18-200mm lens. I also used my pop flash to help illuminate this photo. The camera setting were;
ISO - 200
Speed - 1/200 sec
F-stop- f8
Equiv. Focal length - 300mm
The camera was hand held.

I used Photoshop to enhance the tonal range of this photo plus other minor changes.

I know it's not tact sharp. My main goal was to cature the flow of flower and there texture.

This is my first posting on this thread and I would appreciate your critiques on this photo. Thanks, ADubin

[Julie Kenward]

Hey, Arnold...welcome to the macro/flora forum!

I agree that the red and green make for a stunning color combination. I'm wondering if seeing a little more of the flower stem and greenery might make the composition feel a little more balanced?

Tell me a little bit more about the light - in other words, why the almost black BG? Was that your choice or was that just how the image turned out?

[Fabs Forns]

Welcome Arnold.
To be honest, the fact that the pistils are not sharp turns me off a little bit. The flash acted as main light, that's why you have a black BG, ambient light was underexposed.
Texture is fine and so are the colors.

Will be looking forward to more!

[Arnold Dubin]

Julie, Thank you for providing me feedback about my photo. I really appreciate it. The original photo pretty much filled up the frame so I can't show any more of the greenery. The answer to your question is both. I used the pop flash from my camera so it was enough to illuminate the the foreground better. I expected to see some parts of the BG slightly illuminated but it wasn't. ADubin

Hey, Arnold...welcome to the macro/flora forum!

I agree that the red and green make for a stunning color combination. I'm wondering if seeing a little more of the flower stem and greenery might make the composition feel a little more balanced?

Tell me a little bit more about the light - in other words, why the almost black BG? Was that your choice or was that just how the image turned out?

[Arnold Dubin]

Fabs, Thanks for your comments about my photo. They are much appreciated, ADubin

Welcome Arnold.
To be honest, the fact that the pistils are not sharp turns me off a little bit. The flash acted as main light, that's why you have a black BG, ambient light was underexposed.
Texture is fine and so are the colors.

Will be looking forward to more!

[Anita Bower]

I think you did capture the flow of the flower. Focusing on the pistils would have strenthened the image.

[Arnold Dubin]

Anita, Thank you very much for your comments about this photo. I looked at several of your photos on your website and I can see that you have a very artistic eye when it comes to photographing flowers. ADubin

I think you did capture the flow of the flower. Focusing on the pistils would have strenthened the image.

[Mark Fuge]

Welcome to the boards. Thanks for posting.

I would agree with the others, but will also make another suggestion for you to try, as you are familiar with photoshop. Sometimes you can make something, of something less than perfect, that will give you the satisfaction of finding your vision.

I have modified your image (very quick work not full review of alternatives) using just the Poster Edges filter, under Filters-Artistic pulldown and a slight cropping of the bottom and right side. It's not a straight image for posting here, but would make a nice image for the OOTB (Out Of The Box) board. Don't thow away your less than perfect iamges, if they mean something to you. Just look for another vision to fill it. There are other filters there that might better show your vision, but that is for you to determine.

Keep posting, the knowledge you get here will greatly improve your images down the line and make photography more enjoyable.

Remember it is your image and your vision, take it where you want to go.

[Arnold Dubin]

Mark, Thank you very much for taking your time, providing me your thoughts, and modifying this photo. This has really opened my eyes in new ways to look at doing some of my post processing. I have been mainly photographing birds and posted several of them on the Avian Image Critiques forum and that has really help me improve my skills. Thanks again, ADubin :)

Welcome to the boards. Thanks for posting.

I would agree with the others, but will also make another suggestion for you to try, as you are familiar with photoshop. Sometimes you can make something, of something less than perfect, that will give you the satisfaction of finding your vision.

I have modified your image (very quick work not full review of alternatives) using just the Poster Edges filter, under Filters-Artistic pulldown and a slight cropping of the bottom and right side. It's not a straight image for posting here, but would make a nice image for the OOTB (Out Of The Box) board. Don't thow away your less than perfect iamges, if they mean something to you. Just look for another vision to fill it. There are other filters there that might better show your vision, but that is for you to determine.

Keep posting, the knowledge you get here will greatly improve your images down the line and make photography more enjoyable.

Remember it is your image and your vision, take it where you want to go.