Flower

[843isdead]

Camera: Nikon D70
Exposure: 0.022 sec (1/45)
Aperture: f/2.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Larger version: http://flickr.com/photos/843/3038115162/sizes/l/in/set-72157612394273441/

I captured this shot when I was at the Botanic Garden one afternoon. I was walking by an otherwise ordinary flower but I stopped in my tracks to take a shot at it. What struck me was the color. The flower itself is commonly found in Singapore but when framed at the right angle with the right depth of field, I noticed the vibrant colors and beautiful contrast.

The focus is a little bit off since it was handheld at a low angle and the sky overcast, but it's probably better with a shallow depth of field since it complements the background well. This is probably one of my favorite photos, but maybe it's just me. Tell me what you guys think.

 

[PyeeL]

Generally I like how this image was taken, but personally find the DOF overly shallow.
Also you could have maybe moved back a step to see more of the flower, right now it seems to dominate too much leaving the negative space redundant.
Though it's not sharp, there is a dreamy effect that works for me.

 

[mrericlee]

Too shalllow... try f4 at least.

 

[scarecrow]

Agree with PyeeL: DOF too shallow but it can work for me too. Yup, u should move back and maybe use portrait instead of landscape view. I would love to see the full flower with some stalk (or more).

 

[foxtwo]

shallow is good, very good, exceptionally good! this isn't some normal petaled flower that looks better with deeper DOF, this flower if treated the same way will just bring into attention all of its pointy bits and create a distraction. note there isn't a 'main' element (unlike a petaled flower) to focus on, its better to use thin DOF here to bring a particular part of the flower into attention than try to accomadate all of it.

Love the constrast, love the light, it truly looks delicate, great catch! my only gripe, why is it in landscape? noooooooooo,,,,,,

 

[yehosaphat]

What grabs my attention first is the contrasting colors of the flower against the dark background. Good that you caught this view. Besides the OOF, I would say placing the flower using rule of thirds would improve your composition. Besides you can add your own caption your flower is not right smack center.

 

[843isdead]

I agree that capturing in landscape is a critical flaw. I should have used portrait with some headroom above the flower. The stalk isn't nice to look at though and may distract.

I'm not sure about using the rule of thirds here. Most close-up shots are usually best isolated, and in my opinion the rule of thirds is great only if there is some background to accentuate distance (or size) from the object.

Thanks for the replies, and please keep them coming. I'm particularly interested in what would be the better DOF, shallow or deep. It seems opinions are split but the reasoning for each is quite valid.

 

[btrenkel]

Yes - maybe a bit shallow DOF, if you print. Don't cut the top (one piece is missing); and show a bit more of the bottom where the stem comes together.

For this particular one. Go vertical. And have more copyspace with the light on the top. And it would be really cool