-- Frantisek Staud (fstaud@pharm.kyoto-u.ac.jp), August 24, 1998

Answers

I REALLY like this shot. I think its something to do with the bright colors being subdued so much by the small depth of field, so they don't scream over the rest of the image. Wow, this just really grabs my eye.

Great shot!

BTW, what kind of equipment did you use to take this shot?

-- Jason Fobart (jason@fobart.net), August 24, 1998.

Really nice shot. Goes to show you that in focus and out of focus elements can be equally important. The out of focus petals provide a somewhat abstract quality to this. Like a painting . The well lit stamens, contrasting yellow, stand out nicely and sharply. I only wish the stem were more nearly out of focus. However, a very wonderful photograph, none the less.

-- Paul Lenson (lenson@pci.on.ca), August 25, 1998.

Very nice/unique treatment of what might have been an other stereotypical flower image. I am a little incredulous about the very narrow depth-of-field, but the small area of sharpness on the far right pedal lends credibility to image's integrity..

-- Lester LaForce (102140.1200@compuserve.com), August 25, 1998.

I have to add my two bits. This photo does nothing for me. I think it was well shot but to me has nothing to offer. static centering and lots of busy blur to distract my eye.

-- Bill (Bill.Wyman@utas.edu.au), August 25, 1998.

I love the shot. It is almost like a butterfly flying and dancing. The blur adds to the free sprit of the image.

-- bahman farzad (bahman_farzad@mindspring.com), August 26, 1998.

This looks like a good example breaking a rule and getting away with it. I am rarely, if ever, happy with my images where the subject is dead center, but this one works to my eye. I think it is because of the diagonal lines created by the out-of-focus stems and the petals that all point away from the center creating an kinetic effect. It almost seems explosive and does not strike me as static in the least bit. I also like the blue on the edge of the petals that contrasts nicely with the s

-- Mark Meyer (mameyer@xsite.net), August 26, 1998.

Absolutely lovely. (That's the sakura's credit - it is so elegant and graceful. You have a credit too - you've noticed it.) I like the sharp centre and the blurry leaves "dancing" around...

-- Jana Mullerova (jam@terma.com), August 26, 1998.

Beautiful photo. It captures at once elegance and sharp reality. It is also an example of good "bokeh" in the out of focus petals and is most pleasing to the eye, both in the way the out of focus area is rendered and also the way the colors are defocused. Do you mind telling us what macro lens you used?

-- Warren Kato (wkato@aol.com), August 28, 1998.

Thanks for your comments, I appreciate both positive and negative ones.
Sorry for not providing the technical info before, I wanted to know your impressions without affecting you with the technical background. Here it is:
Nikon FM2n, Nikkor 105/2.8 Micro, Fuji Velvia, heavy tripod.
Frank

-- Frantisek Staud (fstaud@pharm.kyoto-u.ac.jp), August 28, 1998.

Nice but I think it could have done with a little more depth of field

-- steve karas (katiebec@earthlink.net), September 01, 1998.