What do you think, please?

[Katy Noelle]

Just softness....



Valentine's day flowers. What do you think?

[Donald]

Beautiful work on the flowers. I prefer this one to the close-up detail, good though those are.

I'd want to do a big clone job down at the bottom left to give the illusion of the window shelf extending right out so that we avoid that edge and the vertical bit of wood and coloured wall. AND ... I want to clone out the window pillar that's behind the foliage at the top. Then, I think, you'd have a top-drawer high-key image. I think the bit at the back of the vase - the junction of the shelf meeting the window frame, is good.

[Shadowman]

Very nice, I like the composition of the second photo which is rarely used to showcase a flower.

[jeeperman]

Great shots, I think #1 for me Katy.

[purplehaze]

Gorgeous, Katy. If you take Donald's suggestions for #1, do let us see the results.

[Sonic4Spuds]

The second is my favourite, though I like the first also. The other two are just too shallow of a dof to become interesting.

-Sonic

[Wirefox]

I must be going soft, but I like them all. Composition is good in No1 although I would be tempted to get rid of the vertical lines of the window frame. I know it is a bit cliched but I always think it adds life to the floral close-ups when a few water droplets are strategically placed on the petals. A good splash of water sometimes works well too.

Well Katy you appear to be on a roll with your shots just lately....but whenever you see a cake when you have your camera in your hand place the camera on the floor - back away....slowly now and walk away - grab the cake and eat it - oh and share some with that bunny too

[rob marshall]

#2 for me. Very nice composition and colour. #1 also has good colour, but I find the angle of the shot a little unsettling. What lens did you use for these?

[ScoutR]

Hi Katy: Without looking at anyone elses comments, I have to say Wow! I love #1 and would not change anything. Usually shots of rose petals don't have much of an effect on me, but when I viewed #2 in the Lyte box it really is quite stunning. I like the idea of #3 but compositionally it's just not there. Perhaps if the center petals were on a third? Or perhaps try doing this soft look with a multi colour bloom - don't know, it just needs a little something more to keep my interest. #4 is very nice too, but looks top heavy to me and like #3 just does not have the Wow factor of the first 2. However, now that I look again, they are quite nice abstracts and like many shots that I don't like initially, they grow on me and I like them

Wendy

[ilovelucydog]

They are all very nice. Number 2 is my favorite, then 3, then 4 then 1. You did great.

[Katy Noelle]

Thanks, everyone, for the good input, advice and I'm surprised by the encouragement! I do so many flowers but feel a little lost for camera fodder, at the moment. My husband had bought these for me for Valentine's Day and I shoot what I'm seeing and these were in my sight.

Okay, about the line. I liked the thought that one could see (sort of) that they were on a window sill but I see how it simplifies everything to get rid of that line and the bottom corner of color on the wall.

Will, I do have #3 with a higher dof but, it isn't really what I wanted. Wendy, I think that I do have #3 with the center of the rose on the third. Anyway, I wanted something more abstract with this one and #4. I don't know about them as stand alone shots but I'm thinking that they might work, somehow, with textures or in a mosaic.

Wendy, thank you very, very much for often taking the time to look at these in the lyte box. I'm sure that others do, too, but I often forget to do it, myself.

Rob, thanks! Praise from you on a flower shot is really encouraging. I used the 60mm. I'm still struggling with using a prime lens. When I was just using the 18-55mm kit lens, I could find my composition much more easily by just zooming or pulling out. Now, I forget to back up or zoom by just moving. The first photo was awkward to get. It's in a jug with a high lip at the spout which forces the flowers back a bit and makes it a little unnatural.