Sunflower

[Brendan Dozier]

Took this indoors with available window light plus some pop-up flash. CS5, curves, removed a few spots, some dodging and burning, smart sharpening.

7D, EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, tripod
2 sec
18.0
ISO 400
Available light & pop-up flash
Flash Exposure Compensation -1

C & C welcome & appreciated,

- Brendan

[Mitch Haimov]

Very cool, Brendan! I like the texture of and lighting on the petals. The purple fringes of the anthers complement the orangish petals well.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Brendan. This one has a lot of visual impact! The lighting is very well handled, good overall sharpness, and I love the mix of colors. Very well done.

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Interesting composition and very nice colors combination, I think I would like the bright petals more in focus.

[Nick Palmieri]

Nice colors and textures. I really like this tight shot. Debating on cropping a bit off either the top or the bottom. Nicely done though as is.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Brendan,
I really like the bolder colors of this.....really stands out and the lighting looks VG. All in all very nicely done.
While I liked the OP comp I wasn't thrilled with it for some reason and started playing with Browser crops....repost is what I came up with. IMO it is stronger comp wise......but I'm sure not everyones opinion will be the same so I just figured I can give you another option for this image. Let me know your thoughts.

[Anita Bower]

Exquisite colors and light! I especially like the graceful curves of the petals. You did a great job selecting the area of flower to photograph--that upper curving petal is just wonderful. Taking a bit off the top would be my choice too, but maybe not as much as Roman did. But, I didn't play around with it. A wow image!

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks all very much for your comments & suggestions.
Roman & Anita - agree cropping off the top is needed and Roman's crop is definitely an improvement to the OP. However, looking at it now, it's not so easy to decide where exactly the crop should be made. I'll take another look later, thanks again.

[Chris Ober]

I like the original comp with some taken off the bottom. Nice contrasting colors.