fancy pansy WC#584

Beautiful colors and lines in this pansy, John. I like the way the raindrops of various sizes are coating the purple edges and how some of raindrops are magnifying the areas behind them. The focus is good on some of the back raindrops. I wish the focus on the front purple edge was more clearly focused. . .but pretty good for handheld at F/22.

Good eye, Carolyn Derstine; I completely missed that softness. This image of the same flower may be a little better.

Got one just like this John (the plant). If fact, just brought it in from the front step; we have frost warnings tonight (in May?). Detail in this shot is really nice; the "whiskers" around the throat, the petal edges, and of course, all the water droplets, especially the big one. I've sometimes seen water drops with a reflection of the photographer in them, but can't quite make you out John. ;)

I do like the clarity of your second posting better, John. I also like that the second photo shows the complete flower and no intrusion of petals from another flower as in your first posting.

Ah, the wily and variable pansy blossom! This is interesting in several ways. The processing of the two shots seems very different. Different subject matter defined by cropping and focus. Color balance is different too. I think the second goes better with high overcast. The background seems better in the 2nd as well. Your setting choices are interesting. You might consider a bit less depth of field in favor of increased crispness. Backgrounds would also be cleaner and images would look less flat, but this is personal taste. These are the issues that define close-up shooters.

The second composition is a distinct improvement over the first. But I'm noticing a little oddness in the green areas in the upper right and upper left corners. There are some horizontal lines in the extreme upper left corner. And there are a couple of vertical lines in the upper right corner ... maybe some cloning artifacts?

Thanks for the ideas and comments, everyone. And, Jim, yes, I think on the second image you are seeing some botched cloning artifacts. Thanks for letting me know, and I'll work harder at this in the future.

Lots of neat lines, shapes, colors, and drops here. It looks like your focal point in both posts was the center of the flower, not the front edge. There's a touch of extra brightness in the repost that adds clarity. As I look longer, it seems like some of the softness in the original post was probably movement (either camera or flower).