Zion Shootingstars

Nice bg, the blossoms standout well against it. The image is a little dark for me but this is truly an excellent presentation of these pretty little flowers.

I love the color and the flowers. The large green leaf intersecting the flowers at bottom of frame destroys what could be a great image.

Your main subject here is really great. Here's what doesn't work for me...

<> The green leafs, like the other Rick pointed out, are a distraction.
<> The background is too bright right in the middle & a different background color may work better.

Hi David This flower makes a fascinating subject You captured the delightful form and color very well It's a pity the leaf is in the way...... Thanks for sharing the marvelous bloom.
Albert Darmo

Thanks for your comments. I always find them useful and interesting. When I'm travelling, I process my images on a notebook computer, so I'll check for dark/light when I get home.

As for the leaves, it never occurred to me that they are anything other than an integral part of the compositioin presenting the flowers as a hand might. Especially since the intersecting leaf is OOF, I didn't find it distracting, but that's just me.

Shooting Stars are such winsome little flowers. I've never been able to get a decent shot of 'em, though, so I'm impressed you found these in a good location for a comp.

If I may offer a couple of suggestions, as I don't know if you took any other shots of this... And this all depends on whether you care to manipulate your images and how far you're willing to go. To me, it's all part of making an image, and it's the artist's privilege. Anyway: The left side is dark and comes right up to the lowest flower; I think I'd selectively lighten and blend that dark part. The leaves are a natural element of the flower; the lowest one is pushed into the flowers by a protrusion of rock. So, again, I might fade the rock back by blending it to the underlying color. Then I'd blur and darken the lower leaf to push it back from the flowers.Then I'd consider selecting the bg (everything behind the flowers and leaves) and blurring it to taste. OR I might have to return to Zion and shoot some more... tragic!

Very well composed inage with nice light and well chosen DOF. Only the top leaf is a bit distractin (it takes too much attention). Well done David.

The brightness is good on my calibrated monitor, but brightness is one thing most easily displaced. Lovely and unique flowers. I hope to get to Zion one of these days!

These are really pretty flowers with some unique shapes and orientation, David. Shooting in the wild is always a challenge for creating some order from the chaos, so I will not look for any special consideration for the leaves. They are what they are.

The flowers are beautifully captured, David, and I think the green of the leaves is a desirable complement. Lovely image !

I like it, David. I think it's a nice environmental shot.