Lovely lily, critique composition, editing thanks

[echosue]

I shot this on July 15th with my Nikon D60. I would like any critique on the composition and the post production editing I did. I used the vinginetting on lightroom to create the shadows. What does anyone think? Please feel free to be critical as I can only learn if you really tell me what you think.

Nikon D60
exposure 1/320 sec
f/5.6
subject distance 940 mm
focal length 200 mm

[echosue]

Originally Posted by echosue

I shot this on July 15th with my Nikon D60. I would like any critique on the composition and the post production editing I did. I used the vinginetting on lightroom to create the shadows. What does anyone think? Please feel free to be critical as I can only learn if you really tell me what you think.

Nikon D60
exposure 1/320 sec
f/5.6
subject distance 940 mm
focal length 200 mm

I was just wondering if no one had anything to say for a specific reason or if I just put this in the wrong place?

[journeybetween]

I'm new to the forum, so maybe you did put it in the wrong place, regardless, it is a beautiful image.

If you could change anything, I feel like the focus is a little soft. I want all the stamens to be sharp, or at least a couple to be so sharp you can see the pollen sticking to them (macro is so difficult with that).

Was it a yellow flower? I don't know why but I almost want to see it a little cleaner without the color tones being so muddy. I know there is a curves tool in Lightroom that you can use for that. That is more of a style preference though ( I like high contrast work), if the more blended colors were what you wanted, then they are great.

I love the the angle of view and the shadows are lovely, Nice work

-Amb

[echosue]

Originally Posted by journeybetween

I'm new to the forum, so maybe you did put it in the wrong place, regardless, it is a beautiful image.

If you could change anything, I feel like the focus is a little soft. I want all the stamens to be sharp, or at least a couple to be so sharp you can see the pollen sticking to them (macro is so difficult with that).

Was it a yellow flower? I don't know why but I almost want to see it a little cleaner without the color tones being so muddy. I know there is a curves tool in Lightroom that you can use for that. That is more of a style preference though ( I like high contrast work), if the more blended colors were what you wanted, then they are great.

I love the the angle of view and the shadows are lovely, Nice work

-Amb

I really appreciate your thoughts and suggestions. I had not noticed that the focus was so soft, but now that you mention it I believe that it could be sharper. Yes the flower was bright yellow, but what do you mean about the color tones being so muddy? I don't understand. I used the lightroom tools to bring the yellow out, did that do what you mean by muddying the color? I will look at it a little more with lightroom and see if there is a way to clarify the color a bit more and make it more contrasted. I think at the time I was trying to make it appear softly blended but with clarity to the stamen. Probably would have been better with the focus issue dealt with. I will have to wait until next year to see what I can do about the issues as the flowers are gone for the year, but can work on the processing of this particular photo and repost. Thank you for your input. I really want to learn what I am doing wrong and so all your thoughts are appreciated. Happy shooting