More flowers

[HCS]

Don't you ever stop? 

Well ... no. In analogy to Lowell's barn shots, you know, close-up and then context, these flower shots. One flower, very close (reversed 35mm), then close (150 macro), then context (150 macro). Flash used in all of them, bare, hand held from a distance, low angle.

Let me know whether you like, or not. And ... any suggestion to change/improve.

[Gary]

Don't ever stop.

[Jakov Minić]

it has always been difficult for me to comment and critique photos, because i always have in the back of my mind a simple fact, who are you to judge anybody's photos? in fact, i have that approach for everything in life. "who are you to judge..."
but let me try this time, anyway:

yellow flowers i find tricky to shoot. pink or purple, too. i don't know why that is, but the colors always seem to be a bit washed out and the details get lost somehow.
so for you pictures, i would play a bit with the color toning and contrast.
as for future shots, how about finding a nice blue background for the yellow flowers, i think it suits them best

[Gary]

it has always been difficult for me to comment and critique photos, because i always have in the back of my mind a simple fact, who are you to judge anybody's photos? in fact, i have that approach for everything in life. "who are you to judge..."
but let me try this time, anyway:

yellow flowers i find tricky to shoot. pink or purple, too. i don't know why that is, but the colors always seem to be a bit washed out and the details get lost somehow.
so for you pictures, i would play a bit with the color toning and contrast.
as for future shots, how about finding a nice blue background for the yellow flowers, i think it suits them best

A blue background would be quite interesting.

[HCS]

Thanks guys.

Jakov, thanks for taking the time to look deeper. I appreciate that. It's the only way for me (and possibly others) to progress.

I also find purple to be a difficult colour, not in the least because of how camera sensors work. Yellow is OK. I tried hard to give the flowers enough exposure, yet underdid it and had to raise exposure during development.

I'll have a look at increasing contrast or doing some tone mapping. I tried to keep the recipe simple this time, only capture one, no post processing.

So, you both want yellow against blue, which is hard to come by around here in natural settings (as the three 1st ones are), here you go! Posted before on "the other site" (and hanging 75x50 on my wall).

[Jakov Minić]

see, it works.
but in this photo i would either use a bit of fill in flash or pump up the shadows in post processing.
perhaps i would also stop down the lens to get all flowers within the depth of field

[HCS]

see, it works.
but in this photo i would either use a bit of fill in flash or pump up the shadows in post processing.
perhaps i would also stop down the lens to get all flowers within the depth of field

Thanks Jakov.

In this particular case, it came out exactly as i'd imagined (for a change). Sorry it doesn't coincide with the way you'd do it, but that's life. I did use flash on these, it is visible and i wanted to create a bit of a vignette around the edges (enhanced during development), i wanted visual focus on the core of the flowers, especially in the middle. I also wanted the back row to fade into the background ever so slightly. I think i did that well. So, this one was for myself 

I posted this one to show you i indeed do have yellow flowers against a blue bg. The poster is now hanging on the exact same wall that acted as bg 

[Jakov Minić]

as i posted earlier, who am i to judge

[Frank Fremerey]

The tulips in the jar colour contrast very nicely with the blue BG. Epertly lit.

[HCS]

as i posted earlier, who am i to judge

Don't worry, i appreciate your feedback. I am also just trying to spin it in my favour 

[HCS]

The tulips in the jar colour contrast very nicely with the blue BG. Epertly lit.

Thanks Frank, appreciated.

Wow, expertly lit, i'm not so sure. Lots of tries and finally something i liked. My wife also, that's also important.

[Gary]

Wow! I'd put that puppy up on my wall as well.

[Frank Fremerey]

Dare to bend the rules. Let you eye guide you. Shit happens ... throw it out. Learn. Then shoot again and magic happens. Only when you stop to learn you will produce shit for the rest of you life.

[HCS]

Thanks Frank, that seems like a life lesson i need to store somewhere for later use.

[pluton]

Suggestion:  Now try to get that good lighting feeling on the close ups, which, as is, are lit flat.
You can sit and wait for the natural light to get pretty(easy, but could take days), or you can artificially light it(possibly expensive, plus more equipment).