Caressed by a leaf

[Linda Fellion]

This is my first posting to the forum. I'm looking for reactions to the leaf. Does it add or detract from the image. When I saw the flower it looked like the leaf was embracing it. I would like more feedback because one person said "too bad the leaf is in the way." I would just like a sense of whether this reaction is limited to just this one person (or a few) or if it is prevalent, so I can better understand how to get the emotional reaction I'm aiming for.

The flower is a dahlia taken fairly early in the morning. I used the flash to try to get the water droplets to sparkle.

Other feedback about composition, exposure, etc is also welcome.

Shot with Nikon D60
Lens AF 60mm Micro
Shutter speed 1/60 sec
f/18
ISO 200
Flash used: Yes

[Chewys Dad]

Well being the 1st to give my opinion, I would say that you'll get many different ones on this.
I think the leaf looks like a bowl in which the Daila's sitting. Others might see it as a distraction, being in the way of the flowers.
I personally would not have tried this shot with the leaf in front of the flowers and would have either removed the leaf or looked for another angle.
Michael.

[utsc2006]

The leaf doesn't bother me as much as the cut off petals at the top. If you cropped it down, try cropping again but including more of the subject.

[Linda Fellion]

Thanks for your feedback. The image isn't cropped, it is, unfortunately, as I shot it. Your comment prompted me to look at other pictures I've taken. Several of them have the edges of flowers cut off. I have been intent on getting as close as the macro would allow to get a lot of detail.

I'm thinking I need to either totally fill the frame with the flower, so that none of the edges are visible, or back up a little bit so edges of the flower are in the picture. Any thoughts?

[HenBres]

I like this new perspective. Good that you didnt try to move the leaf in the middle. In total I can see four leaves here - the main in the middle, the second one behind the flower on the left, the third one under the left flower and finally a small portion of leaf visible under the main leaf. For me, the only distraction here is the small portion of leaf that is visible under the main leaf. I think it would be better if you would make that small portion of leaf black or in other words make the bottom right area completely dark. That would leave you with two flowers enclosed by three leaves.

[daddyoproductions]

Maybe too close of a crop to show the cradling of the flowers. I think I'd have tried to back it up a bit to see how that looked. You have to think of your focal point...do you want to show the texture or the cradling? You could have gotten closer for the texture and it wouldn't matter about cutting off some petals.

[Linda Fellion]

Thanks for your comments. I'll play with making the bottom leaf black in the right bottom corner and see how it looks. Not only have I only had this camera since May, I also am just learning photoshop so have a lot to learn in both arenas.

[kdg22]

Ditto ..........to what HenBres said.