Guess it's time to throw one out for critique...

Posted this on one of the other critique sites a while back, and received no responses at all. There are a few things I'd change about this; I'm curious how others view it. I was experimenting with limited DOF at the time - is this sucessful?

FWIW, Sigma EX 105 macro, Kodak EBX. Thanks for your comments.

-- Scott (bliorg@yahoo.com), September 26, 1999

Answers

I like the composition & the colors. The green background is very well done. I think that this image needs more depth of field. The one flower is not all in focus, it is soft on the right side. If the entire flower was in sharp focus it would "snap" right out of the background. This one certainly deserves to be re-visited if you can.

-- Joe Perrigoue (Joe@supply.com), September 26, 1999.

[Sound of crickets shattering deafening silence...]

Thanks for the comments, Joe. Agree with you 100%. Unfortunately, perennial chamomile's an annual here in SE Texas, so it'll be next Spring a'fore I get another shot...

- Scott

-- Scott (bliorg@yahoo.com), September 29, 1999.

Scott, I would have shifted the camera position a little to the right and down. This would have provided more separation from the flowers in the background and put the film plane closer to parallel with the subject. Another couple of stops down on the aperture would have been beneficial also (I always use depth of field preview on these types of shots). This shot is quite good as is and I suspect you'll really nail it next time!

-- Jim Erhardt (jimerhardt@hotmail.com), October 05, 1999.

Thanks for the comments, Jim. I was hoping to get just enough DOF to cover the blossom at the angle it was at, as I liked the profile. Unfortunately, it was early morning, and I didn't do a very good job of evaluating DOF in the available light. I think if I backed off just a bit, I'd have enough DOF to get it. Dialing in any more got me too much background coverage. This was shot wide open.

Next year, I guess... Scott (http://users.ntr.net/~msperry)

-- Scott (bliorg@yahoo.com), October 11, 1999.