A blurred flower

[Bo_]

I took a picture of this flower in my garden (I dont know its name). This was taken on a bright sun shine in the afternoon when I was playing around with my camera. I got this nice DOF (my own opinion) where the center of the flower is in focus - but the "flower leaves" close to the camera are a bit blurred as the background.

Some will probably think it is a bit ordinary - but anyway what do you think - I need some feedback?



EXIF: Canon PowerShot S3 IS
Exposure: 1/800s
Aperture: f/3.5
Exposure Bias: -1 EV

[windrider86]

My own personal opinion thinks it might show off this pretty flower if you took the picture from a different angle.

[RexK_Cozumel]

I agree with windrider. The angle that you took this at has a lot of distractions in the background. Try to isolate the flowers that they are not overlapping and blending into one another. The DOF is good but I feel like the photo is too cluttered and it is hard to separate your subject from the background flowers

[Nathan deGargoyle]

I think you've pushed the DOF too far. Your EXIF says 6mm(??) focal length at f/3.5? That's going to give you a tiny DOF. Remember your DOF extends in front of and behind your focus so you need your DOF to be long enough to get the front and back of the subject in focus while still blurring the background.

[wulf]

It doesn't quite come together in my eyes - I find it cluttered, full of distractions and I'm not even that keen on the colours. I think that for a shot like this this you either need to be a bit more traditional - wider depth of field and / or a change of angle to get more of the flower in focus - or to push it much more into the realm of the abstract (eg. make the colour break run along the diagonal axis or deliberately overexpose or do something else to show that the standard "rules" really don't apply).

I know that is a bit harsh sounding but it is not a shot I see a lot of potential in as it is (although if you drop it in for one of the "What Would You Do?" threads I will probably be forced to eat my words! ).

Wulf