Flourish- critique

[Original Moments by aj]

So, this image is actually one of my favorites.
Theres not much back story to this.
I was on a wildlife reservation, and wound up with this picture.

What I want to know is..
Does the size of the rock work for the image? I felt as though it emphasized the delicacy of
the small wildflower.
Do you like the shadow of the flower?
and do you think the contrast between the Blue of the flower and pink of the rock works?

** Know; I'm aware both my aperture and ISo were way up, it was just easier to not adjust them.. haha.

Also, I (like always) will love the opinions and critiques, however, I will not do any PP on my images. But would love to hear what you think about everything else

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel XSi
Lens: 55mm
ISo: 1600
Focal Length: 54mm
Exposure Compensation: --
Aperture: f/ 32
Shutter Speed: 1/ 500 sec

[kelleyrie]

I personally would like a closer, more off center composition so that none of the ground or the heavy shadow on the rock were showing.

[Doug Sundseth]

I don't think the large portion of the image being dedicated to the rock helps you achieve your stated goal here. It could be a really large rock with a big old flower or a tiny rock with an even tinier flower. There's not enough context to figure that out from the photo.

So, given that, I'd crop much tighter on the flower. (That's where the interest is for me, at least.)

I do like the shadow and I think your colors work pretty well here, but I don't know that the high contrast between the shadowed and sunlit parts of the rock work very well. You might want to try using a bounce card to reduce the shadows just a bit if you shoot something like this again.

[mwatson]

I agree with Doug, there is no scale here. I also agree with Kelley and say you need a much closer shot but I disagree about getting rid of the ground altogether. It gives you a reference. Saying that, what if you got a little closer with an upward angle so you can possibly get the entire rock and some of the ground?

The shadow is a little harsh. Could you wait a little later or go earlier in the day (don’t know which direction this is facing) so the shadow is a little further away?

Just spit balling here but what if you take shoot just the shadow against the rock? Anyone think that could work?

[Original Moments by aj]

Originally Posted by mwatson

I agree with Doug, there is no scale here. I also agree with Kelley and say you need a much closer shot but I disagree about getting rid of the ground altogether. It gives you a reference. Saying that, what if you got a little closer with an upward angle so you can possibly get the entire rock and some of the ground?

The shadow is a little harsh. Could you wait a little later or go earlier in the day (don’t know which direction this is facing) so the shadow is a little further away?

Just spit balling here but what if you take shoot just the shadow against the rock? Anyone think that could work?

I lvoe the ideas, and I'll try cropping it differently.. however,I can't even try shooting that again ... I traveled 6 hours to get to the location.. and, .. well I wont be going back until next year around the same time.
I had originally gone in hopes of finding a wolf spider to photograph, but the ground was too damp for them this year. lol

[mwatson]

This was just a quick edit but what if you did something like Kelley said and went this route?

[Original Moments by aj]

Originally Posted by mwatson

This was just a quick edit but what if you did something like Kelley said and went this route?

I like what you did, however, that photo is completely unapealing. The reason that photo works is because of how small it is, and because of the shadow, you need to have the ground, because without that stuff, the image is completely dull.

That is jsut the photographers opinion.

[mwatson]

I wasn't a big fan either, it still lacked scale and I agree that we need to see where the flower is coming from.