Spring Penstemon

Barbara, I have never done any work with scanners yet, so I cannot really know the challenges behind the scanned shots. I really like the arrangement of the Penstemon bearing stems and the handling of the light. Nice curves formed the stems also look pleasing to me

I like color and the way the flowers stand out from the black background.

Ram, the challenge of the scanner is the composition and lighting. The flowers are placed face down on the glass bed of the scanner so sometimes it's hard to see if the petals or leaves or laying just right. The light from the scanner as it's "scanning" can be tricky, so I end up moving my composition around different areas of the glass to get the right lighting. There is a box that is placed on top of my scanner that is lined with black velvet to produce the black background, otherwise you end up scanning the ceiling of your room and the tones are too muddy.

I love the challenge of the scanner, but it's very addictive as I try to "scan" something every day. Some days it takes me over an hour to "clone" out dust specks even though I think my scanner glass is clean. Pollen always drops on the glass, or other specks of dust. But it's worth it to me to spend that time to produce these images. There are times when the detail is so clear and crisp, and that makes me very happy. For my next competition I'm going to enter only my scan art to see how it's received and to see if anyone can even tell it's not "camera photography." But it's considered photography in all sense of the meaning of photography, I'm just not using a standard camera. I think everyone should give it a try. It has taught me more about composition and the importance of good lighting, and that's definitely a good thing. Thanks to all for taking a look as I make my way on this scan art journey.