Fleeting Splendor + Next Day

Image Critiques Flora Critiques
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Patience-Rewarded-2024-09-13-07-04-28-(B,R8,S4)A7r3XL.jpg
Patience-Rewarded-2024-09-13-07-04-28-(B,R8,S4)A7r3XL.jpg2000×1368 2.75 MB

Well Friday the 13th was actually pretty lucky for me. The flower did indeed open when the sun hit it this afternoon and the open bloom is even more spectacular. I shot this in the full sun and used a polarizer to tame some of the glare off the petals. I think polarizers are underutilized in Flora photography and have to remind myself to use them more frequently. I’m also happier with the stack. 17 shots, 1/250 @ f11, 70-200mm @ 176mm
Fleeting-Splendor-2-2024-09-13-18-04-46-(B,R8,S4)A7r3XL
Fleeting-Splendor-2-2024-09-13-18-04-46-(B,R8,S4)A7r3XL2000×1306 2.87 MB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

Well one of the buds opened early yesterday afternoon and was pretty spectacular. From the time it started to bloom until this point it took about 2 hours. Another 4-5 hours later it closed up again and while I hope it may reopen today when the sun hits it I suspect it will stay closed and slowly whither. I wonder if the flower stays open and accessible to pollinators for only a short period. I was lucky that I’m on vacation this week and hanging around the house so I may catch another one or two opening in quick succession.

Specific Feedback

You may notice the absence of the old spent bloom. It fell off as this flower opened. I think its hold on the plant body was pretty tenuous and just the slight nudge from the opening flower plus a moderate breeze may have displaced it. I’m not 100% happy with this stack (petal points slightly soft) but I think one has to look pretty closely to see it and since I can’t revisit this fleeting scene I’ll have to be content with this.

Technical Details

Sony A7rIII
Sony FE 70-200 f2.8 GM-II @ 200mm
ISO 400, 1/320 @ f8, 21 shot stack in Helicon Focus

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A very interesting stage of the flower, Bill. The slight blur at the petal tips might be due to picking up an out of focus layer a bit-at least it looks like it to me. If you edit in Helicon, you might be able to eliminate the slight bleeding of the petal color into the surrounding area by finding a layer where it’s not there. Unfortunately that layer probably won’t have the background in focus, so it might be better just to clone into the petal edge from the background if you can.

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My initial response was/is, this is beautiful Bill. Since I haven’t ventured into the stacking game yet, I couldn’t begin to comment on that. @Dennis_Plank’s comments make a lot of sense though. Other than the few tips which I didn’t notice until you mentioned them, the detail and color in this are exquisite. I love watching the progression of your cactus blooms.

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Gorgeous, with wonderful colors and composition! The petals look so delicately translucent, which is totally cool against the thorns. You may have several open tomorrow or the next day.

I have so often failed to start a stack with what was actually the closest piece, so I’ve started backing off just a bit with the focus ring from what I thought was right. As a result I usually have the first several frames to throw away. Can’t win…

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