Inspired by Lady D

[Arthur Morris]

This California Poppy image was created with the hand held Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L macro lens and the EOS-5D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/1000 sec. at f/3.5 in Av mode.

Inspired by stuff that I learned from Denise Ippolito's "The Softer Side of Macro" I got down on the ground and took a look at the backlit poppies. I got pretty close to the minimum focusing distance of the lens. As autofocus with this lens is very poor at best in low contrast situations I pre-focused manually on the pink edge of the sepal and tried to make an image or two each time that my breathing and body movement brought that edge into sharp focus. It learned that technique from a George Lepp seminar that I attended years ago. It was important to check the RGB histogram to avoid burning one of the color channels. I love that Canon finally got around to putting a thin white line around the histogram box on the 5D Mark III so that outdoor photographers can actually see the ends of the histogram while in the field....

Don't be shy especially considering that I am a bird photographer. All honest comments welcome.

Click here to see more poppy images.

[Paul Lagasi]

This is one of my favourite of yours in OOTB, the sharpness is killer, the composition solid, the focus point on the purple with the yellow lines emanating from that point, only thing I could find to nitpick about is I wish the part of the stem just before the purple was just a touch sharper, very minor.....but a seriously lovely image..very well done

[denise ippolito]

It's perfect and I wouldn't change a thing. The color, light and the comp are all fantastic. One of your best! The last image in your blog post today is killer too.

[Christopher Miller]

Beautiful image, Artie! The DOF is just perfect, with just the right amount of sharpness and softness, and I love the color! Awful hard to find anything to improve on here. The only thing I might change would be to crop a bit from the right and bottom so that the orange of the flower fills the frame more, but that's purely personal preference. Very nicely done!

[John Storjohann]

Artie, this is well composed and well executed...the rim of purple at the base of the poppy sets the image apart, along with the masterful use of your DOF. Like Chris, I might crop a smidge from the RHS and the bottom...either way it is a beautiful capture. Love the texture and depth in the petals! Take care.

[Arthur Morris]

Chris and John, It is already cropped a bit from the right and the bottom but I did not and do not want to cut into the flower on the lower left corner....

[Arthur Morris]

It's perfect and I wouldn't change a thing. The color, light and the comp are all fantastic. One of your best! The last image in your blog post today is killer too.

Many thanks. Coming from you that is very high praise indeed :).

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Arthur, very beautifully composed...I would leave it as is also. Love the soft focus.

[Nancy Bell]

Artie, you are a very good student as this is stunning and very much a page from Denise's book. Great choice to focus on the slim pink rim and let the luscious orange flow from there.

[Michael Zajac]

This is very pretty. The colors look like sunshine.

[Anita Bower]

Beautiful! I especially like the areas you chose to focus, with the rest a bit softer. Very nice! I admire your getting this while hand-holding the camera! Beautiful in every way.