Competition #18 Flowers

[John]

The new competition subject is "Flowers" so let's see what we can do with it.

Deadline is Midnight on Sunday 20th July and the judging will be shortly thereafter.

[sunsworth]

Here's my entry. Lillies...

[Myra]

Clematis.

Myra

[bazzasmeg]

Passion fruit flower

[Dick Hankin]

Rhodedendron By Dick Hankin

[Sue]

Iris

[Cookie]

Glenys

[Tracey McGovern]

Red Geraneum


Best Wishes
Tracey

[Andy C]

ROSE

Regards, Andy

[Myra]

Anemone -- by Des

[Myra]

Des
Mr judge,

The above image is mine, for some reason the forum won`t let me on so i have used Myra`s computor.

Regards Des

[pammie]

Well...... ok they're weeds, but flowering weeds nonetheless. Taken at Astley Green Mining Museum on the club trip on Tuesday, against a blue skip.

[Ruth McNally]

Hi

Here is my entry to the Flowers Competion

Thank you

Ruth

[John]

Well, that's it then, competition closed and ready for judging. I thought it would be a change to have a straightforward subject, but it might have been straightforward to enter but it looks like it's going to be very difficult to choose the winners. Here goes:

Sunsworth: It's difficult to do justice to flowers in black and white, although a few decades ago that's all there was so there was little choice. This image has delicious texture and quality in the stamens. It's only let down by some spurious petals in the background which I do think distract from the main subject. Lovely quality though, as always from Sunsworth.

Myra: Very, very good texture and colour in this shot. I like the tight crop and the total lack of any competing interest. The centre of the flower is exceptionally well shown with just the right degree of sharpness.

Bazzasmeg: A superb pattern here, but what a shame that so much of the image is out of focus. The viewpoint is right but I feel it would benefit from a much smaller aperture to get more in focus. For most macro shots, this definitely means a tripod is needed.

Dick Hankin: What a magnificent splash of colour. Digital cameras reproduce blues especially well and Dick's picture has benefitted from that. Some of the flowers may have slightly washed out areas, perhaps a whisker of over-exposure, but it has been held within reasonable limits. I like this one very much.

Sue: A super macro shot where everything is sharp, crisp and has good form and texture. It's a pity that the background at the top is very light and it competes for attention. It's still an excellent shot of this interesting flower.

Cookie: Someones been practicing! Very good technique and excellent colour and sharpness. The flower is not completely open, which is a shame, but all the ingredients are there in this image and it works well.

Tracey: A nice tight crop and a complimentary frame add up to a very attractive image. Reds are quite difficult for digital cameras and here some of the petals have gone "out of gamut" and reproduce as blank areas of red. In all other respects thought an excellent shot.

Andy C: Spot on colour and detail, a very sharp macro shot. I'm not 100% happy with the crop and would have preferred either the whole flower against a dark background or a very tight zoom in to show the centre of the flower only, with no background showing. Technically excellent.

Des: This is a very powerful composition, with effectively a cross-shaped shape to the flower. I think we need more depth of field though, so that the centre of the floweer is all in focus. It's very subtle and very close to being amongst the winners, but I'd be happier with more DOF.

pammie: The use of shadows is a great idea, as is the colour scheme of the image. Yellow and blue are meant for each other and this increses the impact of the picture. It does need some further dimension to it IMO and I wonder if a bolder crop would help.

Len McNally: I love the sharpness and colour of the centre of the flower. The edges though are a bit light. NIce texture in the image and a good tight composition.

Ruth McNally: Did I see these flowers at Haddon Hall? The contrast in shapes between the two blooms is well thought out. Perhaps including all of the red flower would be a good idea. Also, if the background could be made more consistent then I think that would also improve the image. The sharpness and exposure are excellent.

So there we have it. After much thought my winners are:

1st: Myra for the excellent composition and faultless technique.
2nd: Tracey for the super presentation and composition.
3rd: Cookie for great technique, colour and sharpness.

Honourable mentions go to:

Sue for a beautiful macro shot
Dick Hankin for a terrific splash of colour.

And finally thank you to everyone for taking the trouble to enter. Would Myra now please step up and start a new thread with a new theme?

[Myra]

WOW

Can`t believe it thank-you Jonh, i thought some of the flowers were superb, and didn`t think i would even be in with a chance.

I will think of a subject and post it later to-day when i have calmed down.

Myra