Sweet Orange

[Daisy Mae]

Okay...first play day with the lensbaby and there was a horrible lighting failure.

For the technical amongst you..the blind fell off the kitchen window..

Please ..please..give me your honest views on this . I was aiming for an ethereal look.

[Geoff F]

It isn't for me Sharon. Just looks out of focus.

Possibly the subject is too complicated for this technique. Maybe just a single stem?

Would it work better if at least part of the scene was sharply focused; but faint, possibly?

I'm not really sure what to suggest.

[gaijin]

I like the red flower... I don't think it's abstract enough - it seems a bit of a half-way house to me, especially with the text standing out so clearly on the bottle. Maybe if the photo had been only of the top part - from the top down to more or less the water line - I would have liked it more. On the other hand the green stalks can't really compete with the flower in colour or in texture or in emotion, and don't give as much structure to the image as perhaps they should. The top part seems a bit of a mess in fact... a bit structureless really, though that would perhaps not be the case in a closer up view. So yes, the flower is ethereal but I don't think the rest is, or at least not enough.

[rtbaum]

If only the poppy was in focus and the text were not

[Bobobird]

Your biggest fan says nay to the flower, says yay to the bottle. Reminds me of milk bottles from the good old day.

[Andrew76]

Hello Sharon. Although I often don't comment, I've become a big fan of your still life shots. I find myself shooting more, and more still life.

Here, I think an incredibly artistic idea was not executed incredibly. For me, even for the 'ethereal look', something would need to be in focus - preferably the flower, or at least the lettering on the bottle. But that's subjective, and just my opinion. The concept gets an A+ though - now I can't even steal the idea, and call it my own - blast!!

I'm left hoping that my monitor is calibrated correctly (I just did it last week), but when Allen said he liked the 'red' flower, my feathers went up!!

[Mike Buckley]

I agree with everyone who feels that either the lettering on the bottle or the flower needs to be in focus. I disagree with Bobo that he is your biggest fan; I am.

[Daisy Mae]

Ahhh boys...don't fight over me there's enough to go round.

Thank you all for your comments, very constructive which I really need with this strange beatrie.

Perhaps my biggest worry is that the lettering looks pretty in focus to me! ( that's what comes from working with the lensbaby!!!!)

Back to the drawing board via the opticians. lol

[wlou]

Hello Sharon. Although I often don't comment, I've become a big fan of your still life shots. I find myself shooting more, and more still life.

Here, I think an incredibly artistic idea was not executed incredibly. For me, even for the 'ethereal look', something would need to be in focus - preferably the flower, or at least the lettering on the bottle. But that's subjective, and just my opinion. The concept gets an A+ though - now I can't even steal the idea, and call it my own - blast!!

I'm left hoping that my monitor is calibrated correctly (I just did it last week), but when Allen said he liked the 'red' flower, my feathers went up!!

Andrew, I agree with you, Sharon is an inspiration to all of us. Her curiosity and willingness to try new techniques is stimulating. Her quality of photo is where I would like to be someday. And have no fear, the flower is orange on my screen.

Sharon, is it not a result of lensbaby, the blurriness?