Project 52 by Gillie

[gilliebg]

Thank you both. I think that I really prefer the flower in context, a rather shambling leggy bush with loads of blooms. The single flower seems to me to lose it's character. However, I have pulled together your suggestions, and this is the result.

[Kris V]

Thank you both. I think that I really prefer the flower in context, a rather shambling leggy bush with loads of blooms. The single flower seems to me to lose it's character. However, I have pulled together your suggestions, and this is the result.

Definitely the original. It's a wild flower, yes?
It needs the natural surrounding to work. (For me at least).

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Definitely the original. It's a wild flower, yes?
It needs the natural surrounding to work. (For me at least).

Ah, see for me this works better with the focus being drawn very clearly on the flower. The green bokeh provides a much clearer contrast against the yellows in the centre and I think you have the highlights done perfectly. You've also left just enough negative space to keep the photo more interesting than if centrally positioned.

Everyone will have different opinions Gillie - at the end of the day you need to decide what your personal style is and go with it. At least this exercise has shown you what the options in styles are. Now - which one do you prefer?

[gilliebg]

Hi Mal; I think I would like a version of the first picture with better focus on the bloom, but leaving some of the foliage. I wonder if they are still there...

[Geoff F]

And there is a 'free fly' with that last flower.

For me, both options work. But I think this one would work best as a 'formal print' in a nice frame; while the previous shot, with leaves and buds, would be ideal for an identification guide.

[gilliebg]

I am sorry to have missed a week here; my camera went off for a wash and brush up, and due to a certain amount of domestic turmoil, I have only taken a couple of shots since it returned. This picture is of one of our young horses, starting her education. I have been playing with textures and filters, and this picture makes me think of racehorses on a frosty morning, coming home all steamy from their exertions on the gallops. I quite like the faded look too, like a photograph that has been pinned on the wall for some time.

[gilliebg]

I have a new lens, one of the two I have been wanting. It's a Tokina 12-24mm f4, and I have been trying it this week. This is one of the pictures I took of the little known side of Florida, the vast farming industry. Florida was the first state to farm cattle, and is still the 3rd largest cattle rearing state east of the Mississippi. I would have liked to find some foreground interest, but there was nothing suitable however I quite like the impression of the space in the shot.

[Geoff F]

In this particular case, I think those converging lines give sufficient indication of space and distance so you can manage without a foreground 'reference point'.

I was thinking about cropping a little from the bottom and left side. But after holding some pieces of card against the screen, I suspect that what you currently have is the best option.

[gilliebg]

Thanks Geoff; I did want to crop off some of the bottom as there were some dirty tyre tracks running accross the picture, but in the end i removed them as I though the shot became unbalanced with the crop. Gillie