another bloody flower picture

[jabber]

Not an original subject, I realize, but pretty rare for me. (In fact, it's pretty rare for me even to break out the old tripod--I'm a no-fuss, handholding type of photographer, though I'm trying to branch out. I even went so far as to order a real flash a few days ago, though I haven't received it yet.) Anyway, some friends brought over a sunflower last night and it was so beautiful I thought I should photograph it. I'm reasonably happy with it, but what are your thoughts? Perhaps a darker and/or bluer background? I shot a second, out of focus version which I think has some potential as well, so I've included that here too. Both shot at f/8, 1.3 sec, 60mm, 400 ISO. Thanks for looking.

[jabber]

Sorry--me again. I just played with white balance and came up with this pair. Better?

[tirediron]

Hmmm... from a purely technical point of view the focused version of your second post is fine. Good exposure, correct WB, etc, but the execution of the subject really doesn't do much for me. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that I can offer any suggestions as to what could be done differently. The unfocused version doesn't work at all IMO.

[Marko]

I quite like the first shot in post 2. Yellow against blue works great as yellow is the compliment (opposite) of blue.

I may have cropped upwards a bit so that you don't see the center, That makes the brilliant petals the focal point and works better for me.

Not sure if I'm seeing noise in the background colour or concrete, but it's a bit of a distraction.

I agree with T.I. the soft images don't work for me.

Hope that helps - Marko

[jabber]

Thanks, guys--very helpful. I'll try that crop, Marko. Off on holiday and will be back to the forum in a couple weeks.

[scorpio_e]

I like the yellow on blue. It might be a bit over saturated or blown on on the highlights. Then again it could be my monitor at work *L*
The soft one doe not work for me either.