My golden lady

[cristen]

My first flower picture posted for critique. I don't have a macro lens so I used the standard. Is it out of focus? What about the composition? How could I have made it sharper and crisp?

Canon EOS 500D
Shutter Speed: 1/30
Aperture: 7.10
ISO: 100
Manual Settings
No flash

[Sterling]

The two largest flowers are out of focus. The composition needs work. My eye is drawn to the large yellow flowers but they are blurry so they are left behind quickly. I then follow the stem up but there isn't really anything up there. It also looks a bit underexposed to me.

[Photologyst]

Nice shot!

It isn’t super sharp. Crop by rule of thirds.

Since you do not have a macro you might want to simulate it via PS processing. Changing the depth of field by blurring the background and making one of the flowers, of the Oncidium cebolleta or even a portion thereof, the focal point. Then sharpen only that flower and you’ve got it.

[cristen]

Thank you for your comments, Sterling, for confirming my doubts; Photologyst, for your encouragement and suggestions. Thanks too, for the scientific name of the flower .

I will try to crop this image according to the rule of thirds and yes, will redo the shot, as well. Let's see how I fare in PS as I am just starting to learn. Thanks so much.