Hitting the Vein

[praesentire]

Hello all,

I would like to submit the following for your critique.



Camera: Nikon D70
Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 200 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV
ISO Speed: 200

This was an attempt at shooting a fast moving creature. I also tried to keep in mind that I wanted to play the dark veins on the flower against a black frame that I was going to add later.

I shot this at f/5.6 to give it a sense of depth in the flower, but I'm afraid I was too head-on to capture that. If I could reshoot (which I probably could), I think I would use f/8 or f/10 to get more of the veins in focus.

Thanks in advance for your time!

[hora]

Very interesting shot, I love the blue flower as the background, and I'm not sure whether it would be as appealing to me if the flower was sharper. I like it the way it is!

[ELAY]

I don't know the ins and outs of your Tamron lens, but I wonder if even at a higher f/stop it would have been hard to get your DOF down to the surface of the flower.

As hora says, though, the out of focus works quite nicely and even in a way helps with scale. On one level you have a wasp on a flower; but on another the wasp is floating in this big blue-purple void. The colour really sets of the wasp's colouring too.

(I was interested to find a flower picture here -- with your title, I was sort of thinking that I would be treated to something a bit more urban and gritty.)

EL

[Penny]

Phew!! I'm relieved this is a flower picture!

To my eye the two most important things - the wasp and the pollen-bearing anthers - are in focus. The vast expanse of softly focused flower creates what it must feel like to be a wasp swamped in a large blue flower. I like the whole image as it is.

[xxpinballxx]

cool shot...almost looks like the wasp was added in post processing.
I think if the flower was sharer it would take away from te subject.
I like it.....

[praesentire]

hora,
I think you're right about how the sharper background may take away from the focal point of the shot. I'll have to keep that in mind. Thanks!

ELAY,
I believe I would have had to take it up to f/11 to get most of the veins in focus. The flower itself is actually pretty deep (2.5 inches?). Interesting that you mention 'urban and gritty' shots. I'm currently practicing that front. Haven't gotten a shot worthy of posting here yet.

Penny,
The Tamron lens I'm using has a very slow AF mechanism. I was happy to see that the wasp had not gotten tired of my staring and flown away before the shutter released.

xxpinballxx,
I think the colours sort of worked themselves out to make the wasp stand out. Another lucky shot!

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It appears that the overall consensus is that the blurry background is okay the way it is. Thank you so much for your time!