Roses once more

[CaraRose]

Still haven't got it.

First one-- Stupid bud all the way to the right.

Second one-- Bud in the background, and unfortunately there is flowering chive in the background that's distracting.

Third, my favorite, but still haven't gotten the DOF I think. I stopped down to 10, but they're still just a little off on the buds.

[JamesV]

Cara,

I like the first one in this set.

I know what you mean about the bud on the right but I still think the open rose is what catches my eye the most.

James

BTW, I am going to try the rose bush out front to see what I can come up with.

[Trevor Ash]

I like the third the best. I used to spend a lot of time with flowers closeups and they are deceptively challenging. Some things you can try that don't require expensive tools:

1. Make a reflector out of something. Use the reflector to add more light to the main subject and expose for the main subject. What will happen is the background will then become darker, which draws more attention to your subject.
2. Find an angle that keeps the background as far away as you possibly can get it. Sometimes I've been able to move the actual subject a bit by holding it with my hand or propping it's main branch behind some other branch.
3. REALLY REALLY pay attention to the distracting elements in a photo and try to find angles that avoid or hide them. Basically, the trimmed branch in all of the photos is a distraction. Heck, grab some pruners and prune it back even more if it's your rose bush. Also, the out of focus bug, the spider webbing, the amount of buds, the purple flowers in the background, they are all detracting from your subject.
4. Make a black reflector (or make custom colors if you want) and use that as the background behind your subject (make sure it's appropriately out of focus though so it's not obvious). Remember that when using this method you can adjust the contrast between the subject and your "false" background by using more fill light from a reflector and also by angling the background reflector. Since the background is still going to reflect light, usually changing it's angle can give you a range of at least 2 stops in background tone range.

You picked a good angle on the third shot. But the branch, bug, spider webbing, and lack of contrast between the background and subject could all be improved. Otherwise I think you did a great job. I can see why James likes the first shot. You nailed the focus that time (that's the only one you got the focus good on) and the exposure is very good too (notice how saturated and detailed the rose is in the first one compared to the other two....that's nothing but technical differences) Like I said before, this is harder than it looks

Keep practicing your technique and when you do finally find that perfect subject you'll have all the tools and practice you need to capture it at it's best. Best of luck!