Utah vacation shots

A few form my trip in late June that I am finally getting around to.
1 - texture in flat light
2 - Common Sunflowers greeting the sun
3 - Horsenettle (according to Audebon Society field guide)

I'd appreciate any opinions.

Nice pics Chunk.

The first one is my favorite, extreme amount of detail, it has a very nice tone as well.

The second is nice too, how the sunflowers light up like light bulbs and everything else is dark and mysterious.

The third one doesnt really do anything for me(but thats just me). The subject seems dull. It makes it uncomftorable for me that the flowers are kind of curled up like that. I dont know its just what I think. ;) lol

Hope you had fun on your trip!

Chunk, as always you have an amazing eye for composition, color and texture.
i think your composition of sunflowers is refreshing, shooting them from the back, rather than the front.
The horsenettle is also very interesting and I enjoy the dof on that one.

Now this is a texture shot for sure. Love the first image's color and texture, they're great. I found myself wanting to see the rest of that bottom staple just to ballance the image. The second is a very nice image I love the way you framed with the backside of the flowers, but the sunflower yellow seems a little muted to me. The third has a very nice blue but seems to be a little bright on the background and somewhat distracting and the overall composition is not as strong as the first two.

Now that I read this it seems very negative, I didn't mean for it too. I really liked these and would be very proud if my name was on them.

Thanks for looking Flyer. I appreciate the feedback. I played with burning in (haven't used that much) the background on that sunflower shot, wasn't sure whether I'd over done it or not

Thanks for the compliments Rebekah. I always like the transmitted light on flowers more than the reflected light side and you get the bonus of an extra pattern from the overlapping petals. Usually catches my attention but can't always get a usable shot because of the glare when shooting into the sun. Burning in the background helped on this, I think, and I'm going to have to try that on other shots.

Where's that crooked road on your avatar? I think I'd like to run my bike over it.

I don't see anything negative in your post, Larry, only support and good suggestions. Thanks for posting, I wish I could get a critique like this on every shot I post.

I took a look at the original and I missed the end of the staple there so the only solution is to go back to Utah for a retake. I want to do that anyway when there isn't so much smoke from wild fires in the air.

I'm going to see how that yellow looks when printed, it's easy for yellow to become a bit overpowering.