Any and all comments are welcome, so fire away folks...

-- Mark Castiglia (markus777@earthlink.net), June 19, 2000

Answers

Very nice composition and colors. I like that you included 2 blossoms instead of one; more interesting interaction. The back blossom is soft but doesn't bother me much because it brings me back to the sharp forground blossom.

-- Mike Green (greenplay@hotmail.com), June 19, 2000.

I like this, but it's too tight.

If you were to frame this, you'd have a tough time because the mat would cover critical areas. Also, the bottom portion cuts off part of the flower that would look better if it were showing, and provide an interesting contrast to the same part of the other flower on the right. The right hand flower appears soft. While that doesn't bother me here, it might in a larger print.

Basically, "loosen up". I think you've got a good eye, but leave room for cropping and matting/framing when you compose.

Hope it helps, Keith

-- Keith Clark (clarkphotography@spiritone.com), June 20, 2000.

I agree, too tight. From this shot, I think the angle I would try is: Rotate a little left, and back up a touch. This would give you all of the left blossom with the other just a little behind rather than beside. That might, however, bring the two tiger stripe patterns so close that they would compete for attention.
Can you share your shooting details?

-- John Thurston (john_thurston@my-deja.com), June 20, 2000.

Sorry for the "me, too!", but I would like to see all of both flowers. I would also prefer more DOF to keep that back flower sharper.

Then again, I'm just reciting the rules; thanks for breaking them.

-- Jeremy Pursley (jpursle@doce.ufl.edu), June 20, 2000.

Terrific comments everyone. Not what I expected, which is great. I certainly did expect to hear about the flower on the right being soft, but I didn't consider the possibility that I had gotten too tight in my composition. So thanks for the added insight.

-- Mark Castiglia (markus777@earthlink.net), June 20, 2000.

By the way, as for shooting details:

Canon EOS Elan IIE. Canon EF 100mm macro. Fujichrome Velvia (great for these colors I think). Manfrotto 3221W tripod and 3030 pan/tilt head (I'm one of the few who prefers a pan/tilt head to a ball head) I didn't record fstop and shutter speed, but i think this was probably shot at about f8 or f11 in natural light.

-- Mark Castiglia (markus777@earthlink.net), June 20, 2000.

The exposure is great. Back up a little to get the whole flower in the frame and the soft right-hand flower will take care of itself with the added depth of field.

-- Christian Deichert (torgophile@aol.com), June 20, 2000.