What’s Your Preference?

private · #1 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 12:16 AM

Here is the "big" picture of my hydrangea and what I was actually going for:

But when I looked at it the right flower seemed a bit soft to me. I like the color, mainly b/c its what I saw (that is an achievement for me

). Do you think the right flower is too off-putting? Should I keep as is? The shot is pretty much SOC - I cloned out part of another flower in the upper right corner. Could I have shot it diffently?

The Exif Data is:

Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 34 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

This is what it looks like if I crop out the "soft" flower...

I realy like the colors and if itsnice tomorrow, I will be able to practice some of your suggestions...

corry · #2 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 12:24 AM

i think i like the cropped version better, more pleasing to my eye, perhaps if you had taken 3 clusters, i have a hard time with 2 of anything, doesn't seem balanced ( like in scrapbooking i try and have 3 elements to balance the page) so i guess thats what i might suggest. such pretty colors.

private · #3 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 12:29 AM

You know what? THAT is what is really bugging me about the photo - uneven numbers are best...B/C I have been playing on this site for the last couple of months, I am forgetting my true roots of scrapbooking! Thanks for the reminder...Will try tomorrow with a cluster of three.

Anything else I can do?

PhotoNewt · #4 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 12:50 AM

How close were you to the flowers? Using f/8 you should have enough DoF to get both flowers in focus.

The right hand flower seems to be closer to the lens and perhaps outside it's close focusing range - only the diastant elements to the left are in focus.

Were you shooting parallel to the flowers or at an angle? The photo suggests the possibility of an angle and this can also cause the closer flower to be out of focus.

Corry's comment about three clusters rather than two is a very valid compositional point.

private · #5 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 12:53 AM

I was pretty close, maybe I should have steppd back a bit...? And that is what I thought also, when I changed it to f/8...It should have been in focus.

PhotoNewt · #6 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 01:01 AM

I like the colors, texture and details of your crop. Looks like the flowers were on a shaded area or you had an overcast day.

private · #7 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008, 03:02 AM

It was ina shaded area - I forgot to cut them back last year so now they are coming in under our porch... And thanks - they are pretty this year - I wonder what they would look like if I "fed" them - lol