Very nice effect! They are both lovely but the bottom one is particularly dramatic.
Hi Alex,
Of the two, the bottom works the best for me. That being said, I feel that there is a lot of empty space. Straightening of the image with respect to the container, cropping, and some sharpening might help the composition.
The top looks like an interesting idea too. Perhaps a bit too bright, but my monitor at work is not the best. Straightening and sharpening could help here as well. For my taste, a larger depth of field might have brought more of the plant into focus for you, but that's a matter of taste.
Steve
[QUOTE]
Oh! Do orchids grow wild in your kitchen??? What Steve wrote sounds pretty good to me. I do notice, especially that they aren't level. I think it's neat, however, how you brought out the veins and patterns in the flower in the first one. Also, sometimes, getting orchids on the stem to cooperate and work together for a composition is tricky - this is fresh, the way you've done it. I just wouldn't know how to give you any constructive criticism. Sorry!
mythlady: Thank you
sleist: I did the bottom one with all the extra dark space on purpose to get an effect out of it i guess, a lot of darkness but with the contrast of a beautiful flower. The container should be almost perfectly level to the image because i have a water bubble thingy(cant remember the English word for it) on my camera stand, now that you mention it they don't look like it but it isn't anything I'm bothered with to be honest. The top one may be a little to bright on the top left corner but i had to overexpose quite a lot to get the desired effect.
Katy: Haha no they don't grow wild my mother had accidentally broken the flower of one of her own so she left it in the kitchen. You are right it took several tries to get it to sit in a good position, the flowers sit on different sides of the stem so you have to be a little mean and thank you!
I quite like the first one.
The second was a little jarring at first. However, it grew on me. (Yes, that is a pun. )
I'd be tempted to try a little experiment with the second one. Tilt it 30 to 45 degrees to the right or left, crop for center of flower on a third and see how that looks. I haven't time just now to fiddle, but it strikes me a being a fun play around with that particular shot.
Pops
Looking at it a second (third?) time, the vignette might not let you do that.