Desert Flower...
by idemaerschalk

Comment by angela_packard:
9 from me...good luck!

Desert Flower...
by idemaerschalk

Comment by ShutterPug:
Nice lines/curves leading to a simple and elegant flower. Nice use of DOF. I like the color tone too.

ID-01.jpg
by idemaerschalk

Comment by hotpasta:
This is really nicely done and one of your better photos

Look at me!
by idemaerschalk

Comment by hotpasta:
I agree with loriprophoto and all of the other post challenge suggestions. To me, it looks like the focus is on the right, and the red flower beind somewhat out of focus. I don't know about you, but after scoring hundreds of photos, a flower photo has to really be outstanding to get any attention from me, as are many sunsets and landscapes.

While this is a nice shot, it doesn't overwhelm you with a WOW!

I wouldn't give up though. In the month that I have been in dpc challenges, photos of mine I thought would do really well, don't seem to, and others, surprise me. I guess when there are 50 flower photos to compete with, the one that ended up getting the blue ribbon deserved it.

We have to persist, eventually things turn around.

Look at me!
by idemaerschalk

Comment by theSaj:
Why I gave you a 5, by Doctor Fritz B. Banzai (a.k.a. The Saj)

The composition was nice, and you have a natural "color de-selection" photo which is also nice.

However, flowers are a tough one to score with. There are just so many flower entries.

Second, the focus is a bit lacking on the center flower.

Look at me!
by idemaerschalk

Comment by loriprophoto:
I liked this shot but what made me mark it down was the fact that the sharpness was on the white flower to the right rather than the red one. If it had been on the red flower I definitely would have marked this higher. Hope this helps.

Edit for spelling!Sorry

Message edited by author 2006-01-16 13:24:28.

Look at me!
by idemaerschalk

Comment by emorgan49:
With such an emphasis on the center flower I would have expected that it to be in sharpest focus, instead it seems a bit off. Perhaps the white flower on the right is where the focal plane is. More light would have helped so you could have used a smaller aperature. Or as someone suggested, keep the aperature wide, take advantage of the shallow DOF but don't rely on autofocs to focus on the center. AUto focus will often go searching for somethig with more contrast, as the edges of the flowers on the right against the darker background.

On my monitor the red and yellow are rather muddy, not at all vibrant. Sometimes it is helpful to look at your submission on a monitor with another calibration before you submit it. If you have Photoshop you can use selective color to boost the saturation of the yellows, perhaps that would help the red also.

Consider an off center composition. Centuries of artists have found that the human brain prefers to look at something placed at one of the intersections of the "rule of thirds" lines. While a centered composition can be effective, in this arena where the voting is done very quickly another arrangement might score better - You seem to be asking about scores.

Desert Flower...
by idemaerschalk

Comment by pgatt:
Good line and colour, but the grain and focus are too off-putting for me. 5/10

Look at me!
by idemaerschalk

Comment by ShotMD:
Does "offset" the subject as the challenge requested. Very nice rich color. Perhaps a partial, rather then total, selective desat of the image would have left the red standing out but not let the rest of the image seem so stark.

Look at me!
by idemaerschalk

Comment by C-town driver:
Nice shot. Your use of selective desaturation answers the challenge well. Perhaps a shallower DOF would have helped to really isolate the center flower?