Dangerous Beauty and Re-post

I like this as posted Sarah but I might also crop a little from both sides but mostly the viewer's right to put more emphasis on the flowers. I think I'd also try to emphasize the flowers a bit more with contrast/sharpness/saturation/warm color and maybe selective do the opposite to parts of the surrounding cactus.

Love the light and the mood. Don't break that. (smile)

pat

I like the flowers and the color. I do think that the bright cactus takes the eye away from the main subject. cropping some from the right would make a stronger image. Maybe even a little off the top and bottom. This image is worth playing with.

I get the point.
Very well seen and captured.

I like this a lot. It's a nice break from the bloom fest.
I agree that a crop from the right might be a slight improvement and I might experiment with taking a little off the top and bottom to accentuate the flowers and details. But it's a strong image as is IMO. The light is a landscape shooter's dream. Nice.

BTW, great website. You're very versatile.

I like the comp and light. If I were to make a suggestion, it would be more DOF to give more emphasis to the sharp thorns.

Thanks for all the feedback. I made some adjustments per your suggestions.. the change is pretty dramatic, so let me know what you think. I definitely like the crop. I agree there wasn't enough of a spotlight on the subject.

Bruce, thanks for taking a look at my website. I'm still building it .. such an overwhelming task to sort through images.. sigh. I started out, a few years ago, working mostly landscape and travel. Big thanks to the folks over at TPN, who raised me up from a hatchling. I know a bunch of those folks are also on this site (great guys like Hank Pennington and Tom Guffrey) and I owe a lot to them. Just sayin.

Sarah, the re-post makes this an entirely different picture. You really nailed the suggestions. Superb.
Bob

The repost looks great, Sarah! You put the emphasis on the beautiful flowers, with the cactus plant playing a supporting role rather than the other way around which is the way it felt in the first post.

Sarah: Hmm, my first impression was if I was to crop it would be from the left but after looking at the repost I think it is a real winner. Great use of great light. >=))>

Clever handling of the light here, Sarah - I look at the lighted portion and then slowly down to the shadows to meet the blooms there. Cool work

The repost is fabulous Sarah