Gallery: FloraPosted June 1, 2015125 views10 comments
A variety of large azalea bush not too common in our gardens.
Canon 7D, Tamron 55-200 @ 90, 1/160 @ f9, ISO 800
Comments
10 comments
Comment posted by Allen Brooks on June 1, 2015 at 4:56 PM
I like the composition and the color palette. The whites look nicely handled. An alternative might have been to do a focus stack so more of the up front elements are in focus and the background is more blurred.
Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments
Comment posted by Patricia Brundage on June 1, 2015 at 5:31 PM
Composition is good and interesting interpretation of subject, but the many branches and color in the leaves distract from the beauty of the flower. I have yet been able to isolate the azalea bloom to its best advantage, and they are very common here.
Registered on March 23, 2006, 1111 Posts, 6531 Comments
Comment posted by Alberto Patiño on June 1, 2015 at 7:00 PM
I think that the composition is lovely, and I don't have much of a problem with the background twigs and leaves. I do feel that it lacks some sharpness, especially in the large version. I wonder if in this case a smaller image, perhaps no larger than 1000 pixels but still 1 MB, would help?
Registered on December 2, 2014, 278 Posts, 1736 Comments
Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on June 1, 2015 at 8:55 PM
HI Ian
I went to Isabella Plantation in Richmond a couple of weeks ago and was rewarded by a spectacular display of azalea blooms. The gardeners there said it was the best display they have had for awhile.
I really like the variety you have shown here especially with the inclusion of the buds. The composition is fine and the bg does not bother me (actually the color in the bg kind of complement the bloom). Alberto commented on the lack of sharpness but actually the anthers and stigma are plenty sharp; rather; it is just the shallow depth of field that one sees with close-up images. You are already at F9 and any smaller aperture will cause the background to be too distracting. I do not mind the softness of the petals which makes the bloom more appealing. The sharp points in the photo allows the viewers to rest their eyes after exploring the image. Very applealling image.
Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments
Comment posted by Ramamohan Pai on June 1, 2015 at 9:08 PM
Ian - Like Gary, I too seem to like this (except for some wierd compression, softness kind of effect seen). You selected the angle right which makes the bloom utilize the space on the right as well as point to the viewer.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 550 Posts, 9037 Comments
Comment posted by scott lanz on June 1, 2015 at 10:17 PM
As others have commented, there looks to be some additonal processng applied here - some type of filter? - that has softed the image. Very appealing to my eye. The background is quite busy, but softened in the processing. Well done, Ian.
Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments
Comment posted by Ian Wolfenden on June 2, 2015 at 2:56 AM
Thanks, everyone, for the comments. The bg softness is due to a lot of noise reduction - I was a bit bothered about noise, having had to shoot at ISO 800, handheld, on a breezy day.
Registered on May 18, 2007, 1108 Posts, 7647 Comments
Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on June 2, 2015 at 3:44 PM
I like this. The composition places the bloom correctly and a busy BG doesn't really faze me. Still, to be honest, it feels, well, weird to me. I don't know why.
Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments
Comment posted by Yun Gao on June 2, 2015 at 10:37 PM
Ian, This works well as is for me. I like your softened/darkened processing in the background.
Registered on September 11, 2012, 267 Posts, 1621 Comments
Comment posted by Bill Fach on June 5, 2015 at 5:59 PM
Ian: Coming to this after your most recent post. We have a lot of azaleas but I struggle to compose them well. I don't like this as much as the other but still a solid effort. >=))>
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments
Comments
10 commentsI like the composition and the color palette. The whites look nicely handled. An alternative might have been to do a focus stack so more of the up front elements are in focus and the background is more blurred.
Composition is good and interesting interpretation of subject, but the many branches and color in the leaves distract from the beauty of the flower. I have yet been able to isolate the azalea bloom to its best advantage, and they are very common here.
I think that the composition is lovely, and I don't have much of a problem with the background twigs and leaves. I do feel that it lacks some sharpness, especially in the large version. I wonder if in this case a smaller image, perhaps no larger than 1000 pixels but still 1 MB, would help?
HI Ian
I went to Isabella Plantation in Richmond a couple of weeks ago and was rewarded by a spectacular display of azalea blooms. The gardeners there said it was the best display they have had for awhile.
I really like the variety you have shown here especially with the inclusion of the buds. The composition is fine and the bg does not bother me (actually the color in the bg kind of complement the bloom). Alberto commented on the lack of sharpness but actually the anthers and stigma are plenty sharp; rather; it is just the shallow depth of field that one sees with close-up images. You are already at F9 and any smaller aperture will cause the background to be too distracting. I do not mind the softness of the petals which makes the bloom more appealing. The sharp points in the photo allows the viewers to rest their eyes after exploring the image. Very applealling image.
Ian - Like Gary, I too seem to like this (except for some wierd compression, softness kind of effect seen). You selected the angle right which makes the bloom utilize the space on the right as well as point to the viewer.
As others have commented, there looks to be some additonal processng applied here - some type of filter? - that has softed the image. Very appealing to my eye. The background is quite busy, but softened in the processing. Well done, Ian.
Thanks, everyone, for the comments. The bg softness is due to a lot of noise reduction - I was a bit bothered about noise, having had to shoot at ISO 800, handheld, on a breezy day.
I like this. The composition places the bloom correctly and a busy BG doesn't really faze me. Still, to be honest, it feels, well, weird to me. I don't know why.
Ian, This works well as is for me. I like your softened/darkened processing in the background.
Ian: Coming to this after your most recent post. We have a lot of azaleas but I struggle to compose them well. I don't like this as much as the other but still a solid effort. >=))>