I was really doing a extreme close up of the pollen, with a another set up. In the melee, i did a few frames with a shallow dof with my 180 Macro, and got this result. This is a hand held shot really.
6DII, 180 Tamron, ISO 400, 1/800, F4
Balan Vinod
(If the background has been replaced, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Balan: I love the blooms and color palette especially and the comp. I’m not sure about the DOF. At f4 you’re pretty wide open so this means the flower centers were close to the focal plane. I would prefer the BG center to be more OOF or sharper but that’s personal preference and this looks good as is. >=))>
Balan, I like the color of the Gazania, it really pops against the dark OOF background. The rich blacke work really well with this image and color palette. While the OOF background looks good, I’m in the same camp as @Bill_Fach about the DOF and the front flower, I wish it was either sharper, or more OOF (going even more abstract). This DOF feels kind of in-between here. I know it was a handheld grab shot experiment, but it was worth trying given the rich color you had here. You may want to consider adding some blur or Orton Effect to this, taking it softer and more into a photo art realm as another creative possibility for this image.
The colors are really rich, Balan, and I love the composition as well. I’m in agreement with Bill and Ed on the DOF situation. They sure are beautiful flowers (I’m not familiar with them), and I’m sure a delight to photograph.
