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Backyard Beauty

Sitting pretty in a plaster pot is a little cactus with a large flower. I took a minute to get this shot. Thoughts??

8507-Flower-cactus.jpg
 
Marshall,

I find flower photography to be really demanding. It is very hard for me to make even one that is truly satisfying. Here you have a very nice bloom, with no obvious cosmetic defects. It is well focused and colorful. But there are some weaknesses: the dark shadow, the different amounts of blurring in the background, and the extraneous cactus in the right of the frame. I am not sure that there is much to do with this photograph other than to study how to do it better the next time. Time of day could make a huge difference. Certainly you could try a tighter composition, but how to take a really fine picture of this flower is not obvious to me. It's a challenge.

-Nat
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Marshall,

I like the bloom very much! I agree however that there are some problems. I'd try to use the background to your advantage. Perhaps it might help to increase the depth of focus to include the pebbles and cactus textures. Then try when the sun is setting.

I'd take a number of wide pictures from different angles print out and study how the composition might be best made. Chose what you want and draw a rectangle around that and then take that picture. You may have to add or remove pebbles or clean out dead cactus.

It's really worth a try.

Asher
 
Nat and Asher, thank you very much for the input. Time of day was an issue, as it was still a very high sun. The flower is a part of the cactus, it is a bloom off of one of the strands. The bright blossoms like this do not normally have a lengthy life span, and it is already gone. I will definitely keep your ideas in mind for the next opportunity.
 
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