When I saw this flower and the angle I could take it I wondered if a bee would be nice enough to pose for me. I did have a few bees that came into the pose but I was waiting for one with some yellow pollen. This was with the 6D and the 180 macro 1/200 f/22. I was fairly close to the flower and framed it in such as way to show the flower as is. Also used the new flash system that @Shirley_Freeman uses with the 2 flashes on the side.
So I posted a before ad after, the background seemed too complex I wanted as much of the flower in focus as well as the bee and focus was on the bee, So removed the things in the background and darken it some to bring out the flower.
Okay so anyone looking at this might say great photo. But even though the flower is how I planned it, I cropped the photo to what I have learned about composition. with all that said, here is the series. was not sure about the crop if the bee should be centered with the edge of the flower on top. Comments good or bad for sure welcome.
Dean, the flower and the bee look outstanding to me. Glad that the flash is working out for you. As for composition, I think I would rather have the bee with “room to fly”. I believe if this was my gorgeous shot, I might would try something in between what you have in the second and third version. Not cut quite as much off of the bottom maybe, but some, and crop from the right side and leave some room on the left. Just my thought on this. The whole flower looks great, but there are some things on the bottom and the right side that pulls the eye away, so I am thinking that this combination would work well. Great shot, Dean.
Dean: Good solid capture of the bee and flower in some tough light. I think your flash rig tamed some of the natural shadows. Good clean up from the original capture, especially some of the messy stuff on the right side. As for the crop, I would put the bee on the right side of the frame and give it more room to look into the frame and to the more interesting supporting elements on the left of the flower. I think this gives the image more context while still showing off the details and colors of the bee and flower. Back to you. >=))>
A really nice job getting so much in focus. And good for you to wait for the bee with pollen. I like Bill’s crop with a bit more room for the bee to move into.
Dean, A gorgeous flower captured well. with the way you have captured, so many variations are possible. I like the second one and Bill’s crop is an improvement over that. Beautiful colors. Bee is pretty sharp.
Dean, how you crop depends on what you want to emphasize. I like your second view because it shows the entire flower, which emphasizes the combination of flower and bee. You’re 3rd view emphasizes the bee and the colors. Bill’s crop emphasizes the bee and the setting.
