Dawn Flowers

[Kaye Leggett]

Here is a selection of the flowers we found on scrub land in the Cabo de Gata in the Southern region of Almeria, Spain. I love flowers and these enticed me out of bed early one morning this week.

Do they have any merit or are they just pictures of flowers ? How can they be improved ?

1



2



3



4



5



6



7

[Wavelength]

I feel a good morning, looking at the images, as a whole; i would title this collection as "Good Morning"

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured, nothing needed to improve. You can always tweak something here or there to help isolate or highlight a particular flower, in particular the last image which has nice clarity but only in very small areas.

[Geoff F]

Flowers, particularly in their wild state, are so difficult, Kaye; as I'm finding from my Project 52 challenge this year.

So being totally honest here and closely examing your shots in detail.

#1 has far too much out of focus. It was a 'lost cause' from the start unless you could obtain more in the way of a main subject.

#2 is much better although there are a few bits of twigs and old shoots lying around which I would have removed. Doing a bit of 'gardening' before shooting makes all the difference when looking for a perfect scene; but so often I still miss something obvious.

#3 was a good idea but is lacking in a clear foreground image, and a bit of out of focus grass in front of the main subject. You have a very difficult/impossible light angle.

#4 could have worked if you had managed to get a deeper area of focus. Getting a perfect angle for scenes like this is so difficult. Sometimes I have to remove one flower to retain a sharply focused group. And the background highlights need toning down a little.

#5 is almost there; just the reds seem a fraction over saturated. Shooting under light shade or overcast skies often produces better results than full sun, but you do have to watch your shutter speed then.

#6 could work with a crop to reduce the background area; possibly 4 x 5 ratio or square? And possibly reduce the highlights fractionally. I would try using a Curves Adjustment Layer with the Blend Mode set to Luminosity so the saturation isn't lost when the brightness gets reduced, or possibly an Adjustment Brush instead.

#7 is also almost there but those delicate flowers and fine texture on the stems is getting lost against the background. Once again, I would crop from the top to reduce background distraction; and possibly, very slightly adjust the contrast?

As I said, flowers particularly under sunshine are such a difficult subjects to get absolutely perfect. Even after taking a lot of care before shooting I'm ditching at least 90% of my shots.

[Chri5]

Nice series with the first and last of the bunch being my favourite's. Well done

[Jill]

Kaye,
Keep going, this kind of shot is well worth pursuing.

I feel shot 6 you have almost captured it.
I love the light on the hairs of the plant. For this it is worth the experimentation.
You got down low and close, which has given a feeling of intimacy.
The color of the flower may need a bit of adjustment (that color is difficult to get right)
I feel the space on the left is unnecessary.

Geoff has done a good summary.

[Downrigger]

Geoff's comments all make sense to me. #5 is my favorite of the bunch. Flowers are hard - a high ratio of appeal as subject to effective image. I think maybe because we create a mental construct of an idealization of the flower that ignores the realities of light and surroundings. I am almost always underwhelmed with my results, and it is never the flowers' fault.

[IzzieK]

Kaye...#1 we had already seen and I told you it is one of my fav shot of yours, something I'd like to try to shoot in landscape mode...one day this June.
#2 Due to my shots of some twigs along with my firetruck images, one of the tools that I have in my gear bag is a secatur to manage the weeds that might interfere with my shot. Some of them can be fairly hard to handle by hand.
#3 The backlight here is OK but I am not really fond of this one.
#4 'could have done better here too, the colour is OK, but the shot is not really appealing to my eyes.
#5 is very nice....a different crop on the LHS might make a difference. Move your image around in lytebox and see where it needs a bit of cropping...
#6 Cloning out the little vertical twig on the LHS will be good here, or crop it off. While you are in a cropping mode, consider chopping off a fair bit at the top even if it is only to balance the shot. I light the backlighting in this one'
#7 Very fine and delicate shot...pretty much like holding a lace filigree. Love it though it might not be everyone's cuppa.
I guess the above sums up my thoughts. Your turn.

[Stagecoach]

Do they have any merit or are they just pictures of flowers ? How can they be improved ?

Kaye, what works so well for these is that they are not just pictures of flowers. You have used the light well to accentuate their shape and beauty, well done.

[Kaye Leggett]

Thank you all so much for your honest comments, they're very appreciated. I will work on the images in the next couple of days using your suggestions. Hopefully I'll also get another chance to go out on a similar trip.