(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
A very nice capture, Kathy. Love the reds in this. Perfect image for the WC.
I took workshops from Marion Patterson at one time who specialized in images such as these - small intimates with a very shallow DOF. To my mind it’s all about light and color combinations. I like the well define point of focus and some additional supportive focused areas. I don’t have a lot of experience critiquing this type of image so it’s best to use general rules of good composition. I think that bright green area on the lower right should be burned in or better yet cropped out entirely with a crop off the right to the darker edge of green.
I also slightly dodged the sunlit areas on the stem and leaf as secondary focal points. I really don’t know if that made a significant difference.
Kathy, this is a beauty. The glow of light coming in from the upper right and spotlighting the single seed works very well. I think that Igor’s adjustments look good. His adjustments fit with my belief that in images like this subtle changes in brightness and contrast do most of the work in controlling how the viewer’s eyes move around the picture. I think he’s dodged slightly the leaf below the seed, which adds just a touch of extra interest, or that might be what I’d try…
I quite like this! Especially the beautiful light on the seed pod!
Kathy: Just marvelous. I especially like your DOF/POF choice the the BG. Well seen and superbly captured. >=))>
