It's ugly outside, so I harvested a couple dandelions, got out the gear and played.

For these, I bounced my flash into a 36" umbrella about 3 feet above the table, and parrelel to the floor. Sigma 105 macro, Minolta 5D, handheld.

number three is rather nice.. all nicely taken but three seems more interesting.. the sigma 105mm is a nice lens.. your lighting technique works well..

trog

You've still got dandelions?!! Mine have been buried under snow for quite a while now! Nice shots, the lighting works really well.

wow those are great i love the clarity and the color in the pics

great job

Nice shots, I really like the clarity and depth of field.

Thanks for looking and commenting!

The weather here is nasty as well. That's some great pictures and am glad to see you back. What kind of umbrella do you have?
Greg

Thanks. It's just a normal 36" SP studio systems umbrella, white inside and black outside. They are like $15.

Good to see you posting. I like all of these but the third stands out very well as the clarity and lighting is very good. Good use of the umbrella and gear.

Very nice, Payn.

I like #1 for its color quality. The DOF is a touch too shallow IMO, but very nice indeed.

I like #2 more than #3 due to its symmetrical-ness. The shadows are too deep and the plane of focus is not parallel to where the seeds meet the head, but I see what you were going for.

Good Job!

Thanks Gary, and Loupey.

Loupey, i get what you're saying, I may try some more along the lines of the second one to see if I can get it right. The idea was to create something like the eye in the sky thing you see on scifi movies, with the electrical charges and such.

Payn, I love these. The textures are really great, especially the brown ends of the seeds...really beautiful. I think I like 1 & 3 better than 2...they seem more balanced to me. :)

Emily

Thanks Em! Where ya been? Haven't seen much from you lately.

Payn

Its #3 for me purely because I prefer the DOF and lighting in this one.

#1 needs more DOF but the lighting is the best of the three for me

#2 Just doesn't work for me it seems unbalanced because its too central.

Roger

Hi,
I also like Photo 3 the best. The inclusion of the green part is more appealing to me. The fluffy white seeds are also very attractive.
yoyo

Stunning absolutely stunning..IMHO the best exhibition of macro photography I have seen in this forum..

Jurgen

Thanks Em! Where ya been? Haven't seen much from you lately.

Hi! I've been busy busy with the kids and holidays and stuff like that...but I'm trying to get back into normal routines...:) I've taken bunches of pictures lately, so I'm sure I'll be sharing more as I get them uploaded. :D

Em, that's great. I'll be looking forward to your latest.

Yogestee, wow. That's a wonderful compliment, as there are many here with great talent.

Yoyo, glad to see you back around, thanks.

Roger, thanks for the input and explanation.