Sunflower

Gallery: FloraPosted August 25, 201143 views11 comments

Sunflower

Place: Gilbert Water Ranch, AZ
May 22, 2009
Equipment: Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S 300/2.8 & TC20E (2x), G1325, RRS BH-55, Sidekick
ISO 200, aperture priority matrix metered, 1/250th sec @ f/9, fill flash
Raw, PS CS3, Mac G4, modest crop for proportion

Another subject of opportunity, taken while walking around with my multi-purpose bird rig. This is very natural with no special processing of any kind (including cloning and background blur) – just careful alignment of the tripod-mounted camera to place the flower against the distant vegetation.

As always: honest critiques requested; all comments appreciated. Please view the larger image before critiquing if possible.

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on August 25, 2011 at 7:52 PM

This pops off the page, Richard. Great light, and I like the brown tones in the bg. NIce work with that lens combo.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on August 25, 2011 at 8:28 PM

Richard:
Just beautiful. The lighting is perfect and no hint of flash effect at all. The soft shadow on the petals is still preserve and predominant oblique lighting really brings out the texture. The bg is real sweet. The only very minor issue is the tip of the lower leaf been clipped.. since this is a modest crop, I wonder if including the tip of the leaf may be better?

Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments

Comment posted by Angela Classen on August 25, 2011 at 8:50 PM

I agree with the clipped leaf comment. However, other than that minor issue, this is gorgeous! The BG is very complementary to the bloom and your DOF is dead on. Love the light, color, comp and details. Very nice work

Registered on June 13, 2007, 434 Posts, 2742 Comments

Comment posted by Pat Sampson on August 25, 2011 at 9:02 PM

Beautiful colors Richard, fine light and perfect placement in the frame. The subject presence is what I've come to expect in any of your images.

Peter Conway and I have emailed each other about how effective a long lens (avian rig) should be in flora photography. So this is particularly interesting to me. Thanks for posting it. I hope you'll do more of these "opportunity" images for me to enjoy.

pat

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

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on August 25, 2011 at 9:05 PM

Just about right, Richard. The leaf doesn't bother me. I especially like the DOF and clarity of the flower.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Ramamohan Pai on August 25, 2011 at 10:41 PM

I like that angled composition, Richard

- clipped leaf is not much of a problem for me. Not sure what the shooting distance was but a bit of reflected light for the center would have been great too

Registered on November 1, 2003, 550 Posts, 9037 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Myers on August 25, 2011 at 11:42 PM

Excellent comp. The light and your angle really show off the details of the flower.

Registered on September 1, 2008, 85 Posts, 757 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on August 26, 2011 at 1:10 AM

Wonderful subject presence, beautiful sharpness, beautiful softness and texture, great light.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on August 26, 2011 at 4:03 PM

beautifully sharp and well composed

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on August 27, 2011 at 8:54 AM

This is very nice Richard. Great contrast to BG, it makes the flower pop.
Excellent details and comp, I especially like your use of the light here

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Strand on August 27, 2011 at 9:18 AM

First I saw the name... "Richard Ditch" then I started scanning the image but couldn't find "the bird," so I settled down to take in the beautifully captured sunflower. You may have strayed a little from "home" but after taking is the gorgeous bloom and comp. your looking very comfortable. I really love the main blooms color and detail and the two buds and symmetrically placed leaves. Well seen and captured Richard!

Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments