Mimosa strigillosa @2.8

Gallery: FloraPosted August 27, 2011139 views5 comments

Canon EOS REBEL T2i
Tamron 2.8 90mm macro
8/20/2011 – 8:03:57 AM
1/250 sec
Aperture priority
f/2.8
ISO 400
Handheld lying on ground (please see story below)
Lake Woodruff NWR
Raw file processed in Photoshop Elements 9

This is the last of four images shot with my new Tamron macro lens on the same day. As I said before, they're all four different because I wanted to try different things.

The story on this one: I had started out at Lake Woodruff about 30 minutes before this. It was 8 a.m. now, and everything was still wet. I saw this, stopped and looked at it growing about 4 inches above the ground, in grass the same height, and I thought, "I just really don't want to get that wet and dirty already." I walked 20 yards, then turned around and went back, because I thought I really needed to do this one. :) :) Needless to say, I got plenty wet and dirty, and spent the rest of the day that way (and getting even dirtier). I was dirtier that day than any day in my entire life, I do believe, and that's saying a lot. I stopped to get something to eat on the way home (a 2-hour drive), and I don't think anybody wanted to come close to me.

So, I wanted an image that had the closest points of this flower in focus and the rest blurry -- hence this image. Now, in looking at images to find the name of this flower I saw a lot of images with the entire thing in full focus, and now that's what I want to do next time I find one of these. But what do you think about this version of this flower?

Comments/critiques/suggestions are desired and appreciated.

Thank you!

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on August 27, 2011 at 2:15 PM

You've got great isolation of the flower and I find the contrast between the white (pistils??) and their purple stalks very striking. Not sure what your magnification is here, but if it's close to 1:1, you'll find it extremely difficult to get the entire flower in focus. I think your choice here may be best, this could get very busy if you get the dof back to the middle of the flower. It will be fun to see what you get.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Carolyn Derstine on August 27, 2011 at 3:51 PM

I like the DOF you have for this flower. I like the clarity of a few of the pistils with then the rest of it being blurry; it gives a nice abstract feel. Nice flower and colors. We photographers are willing to go through a lot to get a photo sometimes. aren't we?

Isn't a macro lens great! So glad you decided to get one. Your images are looking great!

Registered on February 16, 2011, 610 Posts, 3684 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on August 27, 2011 at 10:26 PM

I like the image. The dof is good and the colors really work well together.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Pat Sampson on August 28, 2011 at 10:18 AM

Barbara,

I admire you for getting in this thing's face.

I like the bg and the stem (mostly it's color). The dof in the subject here is too shallow to hold much interest for me. The best way for me to say it, I think, is to say that looking at the image makes me want to put on my glasses. I think there's probably something there that's interesting but I can't see it. That's the way I normally react to heavy blur in the subject.

This reaction is probably just me though. What's mostly important, is do you like the image? If so, then it's successful.

pat

Registered on May 19, 2007, 953 Posts, 15989 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on August 29, 2011 at 12:47 PM

The purples and greens are such a beautiful color combo. I like the shallow dof for effect. This turned out quite well.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments