Out of Place

Wondering what the Group thought about this recent shot. Flower placement? Crop of the bottom? The background?

The background is the shade side of a dividing hedge.

This is a toughie. The photo is not only very nearly right .. it's very nearly very nice too! The standing bloom against the plain black background is perfect as is the differential focus. But I think that the standing bloom is a little too far left and too high - perhaps a crop off the right would help to bring it to the "thirds" point?

Mike

I like the concept behind this image. The shape and color of the flower in the front suggests it was begging to be the star. The image seems to be a metaphor for individuality. However the negative space at the top is distracting and takes up too much of the composition. Like my own photography, I can see what doesn't work, but I have no idea how to fix it. Will look forward to reading others comments.

Loupey,
Maybe a lower point of view? More stems on the foreground flowers? People seem to prefer that POV. The colors look pretty good, though.
John

Hi,
The colourful flower is different from the rest because of the height, the colours and the bending stalk. The bending shape is really beautiful. However, the flower does not stand out that much which may be due to its small size. Thanks for sharing.
yoyo

I love the placement. The colors are excellant here, and the way you put the main flower against a dark background. Excellant ...

The only thing I wish was better was if the lower purple flowers were also sharp. To get these sharper and still blur the background as well as you did, you *probably* would have had to move closer and then use a smaller aperature (higher f stop). All in retrospect.

GB

Thanks, everyone for your comments. I know - its missing that something. Perhaps the elements were not all there or not in the right positions. I ending up shooting about 20 raw images of this one scene. A more traditional images is shown here. This one was actually very difficult to get - the placement of the flower in the blank part of the background, the placement of the stalk so as not to intersect the purple blooms. I am very confident that there was only this one little spot from which to get this view.

It wasn't until I got home that I noticed how the lone one seems to be holding the purple flower.

I posted the original as I like that one. The wife likes this second one :(

BTW, StormGirl - that was the assignment I was on. Getting that lonely, individualistic scene - however cliché. Got several more of other flowers. Might post them here later. Don't want to clutter up the main boards.

Loupey,

This immediately said to me "teacher on a school outing with the kids doing nature observation and experiments"; Yes I am certifiable. I like the concept but a few minor bits.

If the tulip was a bit more to the right and also a tad of colour saturation would make this pop. However to do that its just the tulip that needs the boost.

Another thing that would have made it better for me is more separation between the Tulip and the flowers just underneath the head.

Hope that helps.

Some more from that series from that day. Thanks for allowing me to share.

I really like the first shot. It's like a choir and the "odd" flower is doing a solo. The saturation doesn't seem to be an issue to me, as I like the mellow colors.

I like the whole standout theme. Most of these would have worked well in the tulip bokeh post in viewfinder.

You've got some great combination of colors with these photographs! If I had one particular suggesstion, it is that they all seem to have slightly more background or non-central tulips than is really needed. It seems to detract (for me) from the overall effect. Otherwise very nice shots.

Payn, thanks for the comments. I enjoy taking these types of images because each person can immediately superimpose their own unique analogies and experiences. Specific enough that there is a focal point, but vague enough that the scene says something different to different people.

DRG, interesting about the background - I hadn't thought about it like that. I suppose that there are angles to imply a vast background without actually showing it. Actually, when I was shooting these and looking at the backgound, I kept thinging about that Saturday Night Live skit with Christopher Walken (sp?) in which he keeps telling the band "more cowbells, I want more cowbells!" :D I know that this means absolutely nothing for those who haven't seen that episode.