Yellow Rose:

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Pentax Spotmatic, f-1.4 lens + Extension tubes, handheld. Ektachrome 64. Large aperture opening for zero depth-of-field effect. Very late afternoon sun. No exact exposure data was recorded, however, many of the exposures were +1/2 to +1 stop over the cameras indicated normal exposure. The picture is old and had to be cleaned-up in photoshop. I hope the subject itself is not against the forum rules.

-- Bahman Farzad (cpgbooks@mindspring.com), January 20, 1999

Answers

I love the composition and the translucent effect of the light. This whole series of yours has inspired me to see things a little differently.

Cheers

-- Bill Wyman (Bill.Wyman@utas.edu.au), January 20, 1999.

Mr. Farzad,

For the past two months I have gone through every image and every critique available in this forum. The pleasure of watching the images you post as your photographic seeing unfolds is quite wonderful to me. You have brought a vision to nature photography in your most recent posts that is extraordinary and refreshing. It rather matches the intelligence of your critiques and the respect you bring to debate. I hope you post some new images that carry your strengths. This is a beautiful image, no matter its age. Thank you.

Joseph P. Blecha

-- Joseph Paul Blecha (blechajo@libra.unm.edu), January 21, 1999.

The translucent colour tones and the form of the rose make for much beauty. Another fine image!

-- Garry Schaefer (schaefer@pangea.ca), January 21, 1999.

Bahman, If a recall correctly, a number of your macro flower shots were handheld. Did you not have a tripod available or do you handhold for these shots on purpose?

-- richard mittleman (gon2foto@gte.net), January 21, 1999.

Many thanks for your very kind comments. They mean a lot to me. I am thankful to all of you. I hope that I can keep up with your expectations and not to disappoint you. Regarding the application of tripods, I do not like them and If I can avoid them I will. They limit my freedom of movement and IMO they can only be used effectvely when the subject is stationary, for long exposures (longer than 1/30 sec.) or when you have plenty of time or for MAX-DOF. For a fast moving target OR when one does not have time to prepare, it simply defeats the purpose. For most of my 0-DOF (Zero Depth Of Field) close- up series, since the aperture of my fast (f:1.4)is almost wide open, I usually have a short enough exposure time so that I can hanhold the camera. I do have a tripod and carry it most of the time. But with my style of photography, I usually seem to use it with a 300mm or longer zooms or telephotos. I also use them with a view or a medium format camera (6X7) for studio applicationa.

-- Bahman Farzad (cpgbooks@mindspring.com), January 21, 1999.

Incredible! I had liked your century (agave?) plant the best but I like this one just as much if not more. The concentric, soft swirls of the petals, the back lighting, the luscious pastel colors, the way you framed the shot, with the reddish "heart" of the rose in the lower left, and a feeling of depth that draws me into the photograph, all make for a very strong, beautiful image.

-- Barbara Kelly (kellys@alaska.net), January 22, 1999.

Very nice! Have you tried your "zero depth of field" effect in medium format? I imagine these would make for very nice large prints. But then again, the grain of 35mm might be interesting for this type of image.

-- Mike Green (mgprod@mindspring.com), January 23, 1999.