Posted by JL Morris on December 15, 2007
Posted under
Color,
Critiqued,
Flowers
Photographing flowers is one of the most difficult tasks the photographer faces. We have seen flowers all our life to the point of taking a pretty poesy for granted. The task of the photographer is to find a way if making us see them in a new and exciting way. And that you will find my friends is not easy.
Too many flower pictures are acceptable for a plant identification catalog but they are not art. The photographer of this blossom has the right idea. The image concentrates on an interesting detail of the bloom with some interpretation. The subject is somewhat centered but that works fairly well in this composition.
There are a couple of thing I notice about this image. First the minimal background is black except for one spot near the top frame edge which is a blue-green, why?
I mentioned in an earlier article about still life photography that the photographer was responsible for everything that occurs in the image. It is more so for macro photography. You are holding your subject up to a magnifying glass and every blemish or detail out of place is exaggerated. Often there is nothing you can do about it but there it is for all to see, the dead tips on a number of stems are an example of this.
By the way I believe this is a Bromeliad (Bromeliaceae) which technically is not a cactus.
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December 15th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Jim, Thank you for your comments. I think you are right with the name Bromeliad. I thought about a crop with less space on the left and right, but this would have cut through some parts that are in focus and could have caused a distraction.
I completely agree that shot of flowers or food have to be without any imperfections as possible. I looked a quite a range of this flowers in a nursery and could not find any without some dead tips. It would looked funny if I have broken them off. But I still shot this because of the flowers. I also think that there is no good way to clone these out.
As for the green spot, I think one of the leaves must have been closer and showed up with more color. I think that I can remove this.
December 15th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
I have removed the green spot. If you like to take a look at the photo without it, you can go here http://photo.hlehnerer.com/Gallery/Flowers/slides/Bromeliad-Cactus-1_large_IMG_3530.html
December 17th, 2007 at 1:37 am
This picture is very bright and exciting. It is eye catching to an almost blinding degree, not that its a bad thing.
The only thing I might change is the dead tips on the flower which slightly dull the image. Could be photo shopped easily.
December 17th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Hi Ian,
Thank you for your comment and tip. Unfortunately I think that editing out the dead tips of the flower is for now beyond my editing capabilities.