#172 -Flowers

[Gordon Armstrong]

It is summer, believe it or not. The gardens are at their best and the flower shows are on. last week was the Tatton RHS show.

I would like to see your flower pictures. Classic flower portraits, abstract close ups or flower displays. Wild flowers in the landscape or formal gardens would be fine but I want the flowers to be recogniseable and a major part of the composition.

Closing date midnight Saturday 13th August.

Let's see some colour!!!!

Gordon

[melbarnes]

My father-in-law's Amaryllis

Misc (51).jpg (126.39 KiB) Viewed 11972 times

[John]

050 Michelmas Daises.jpg (346.14 KiB) Viewed 11963 times

Michaelmas Daisies shot using the Lomo Minitar lens. This gives a sharp central spot but falls off quickly into that characteristic Lomography blur.

[mikeaspinall]

Taken on a recent trip to Martin Mere.

[al c field]

bents fancy2.jpg (282.45 KiB) Viewed 11948 times

[alankemp]

Blackberry in flower and fruit, canal side Wigan

IMGP6153ADAPS Forum Aug16A.jpg (377.11 KiB) Viewed 11890 times

[Tracey McGovern]

Sunflower....

Sunflower

08 Sunflower web.jpg (386.23 KiB) Viewed 11889 times

Tracey

[Janice Freeman]

20110911_21 dof LLk margueritteskylight filterresized.jpg (117.18 KiB) Viewed 11873 times

Margueritte

[TerryA]

Wild Flower.jpg (447.62 KiB) Viewed 11849 times

[Mikalosh]

Taken with my Nikon D7100 and 35mm prime lens

[Sue]

158 Blue Fly.jpg (291.96 KiB) Viewed 11796 times

Summer Flower & Fly

[PhilipHowe]

i took this in my kitchen, in complete darkness, on BULB, using a hand held torch.

[johnjm]

Gadbury Fold Roundabout
gadbury by john merritt, on Flickr

[Paul Jones]

Closing date midnight Saturday 13th August.

Closed for judging

[Gordon Armstrong]

Thank you all for a cracking set of images. Flowers is a broad title and you haven't made my life easy. I have picked a winner and I will pass comment on them all but this is only my opinion.

We have three straight specimen photos from Mel, Janice and Terry.

Mel's amyryllis is a beautiful image of a strong and dominant flower. The colour is rich and saturated and the texture on the petals is well documented. There is a suggestion of depth of field into the centre of the flower.

Janice's margeritte is well positioned and exposed but the centre of the flower is a little soft and there is a dark delineation around the petals (sharpening?).

Terry's wild flower is delicate and well taken. The centre of the flower is sharp and the texture in the petals is lovely. I like the background blur but I wonder whether a tighter crop would improve it.

There are three photos of flower groups.

John has given a group of Michaelmas daisies with an interesting lens effect. The colour is great and the centre is sharp. Camera manufacturers create dense sensors, take out the low pass filter and tweak the image processing to create sharp images and photographers buy a lens that doesn't focus properly I am joking but the effect doesn't quite do it for me.

Alistair shows the scene at Bents. The flowers are lovely ( who doesn't like pansies??) but the background is a bit fussy and the bowl a little too dark.

Alan has gone for a wild flower in context. The flower is spot on but the exposure has struggled to balance the dark blackberries and the bottom right corner is a bit too dark for me. The big bright leaf on the left takes my eye from the flower.

I am going to group the three close up/ art images.

Sue's image is a great macro image and may have won if the subject was fly but the flower is not the main part of the image

Tracey has given us a stunning high key sunflower. The background is white and the centre is crisp and precise. The petals in the bottom right are a little soft and there is a distinct yellow line around one or two.

Philip has gone down a lower key line with a dense black background. The flower is spot on with great colours and I love the fact that the bloom is slightly past it's best with subtle decay. For me there is a bit too much black and I think the left side can be brought in a little. (perhaps you could have seen the flower to centre it in the frame if you hadn't taken it in the dark!!! )

Finally there are three meadows.

Mike's image is quite simple with a very effective blur. I like the single red poppy and the framing which gives me a sense of a spiral drawing my eye deep into the image. My wife says it is like an optimistic look into the future.

Mikalosh's image is similar. The dominant poppies are central but unfortunately are slightly obscured by adjacent stems. The blur is good and I like the yellow blurring into the back of the image but I find the two blurred flowers at the top a bit distracting and the person at the top is eye catching.

Johnjm has produced a fabulous rural meadow image from a roundabout at the top of the Leigh bypass!! Wigan and Bolton have done great things with the roundabouts in the last couple of years. This image is very crowded but it is wonderfuly sharp and the scattered red poppies hold it together. I like the back lighting on the hairs on the poppy stems and seed heads.

I could pick a winner from each of the groups but my final result is heavily biased by my personal preferences.

Third place - Johnjm
second place - Mike Aspinall

Winner - Philip Howe

Over to you.