The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
A gift to the photographer, these huge poppies put on a show every spring at a nearby wild park full of native plants. I’ve got a big folder of shots, from floral landscapes to macro, but I especially like this one. showing the insect/plant relationship. The bees seem to get intoxicated in the rich pollen.
Specific Feedback
Too tight? Maybe shoot with a wide angle to get both subject and context? I can be fairly sure of a re-shoot opportunity right about now. Thanks.
A really nice moment, showing the interaction between the bees and the flower — it feels active, and the depth of field carries well across the subjects.
The main thing is the lighting: some blown highlights on the bees, slightly flat whites in the petals, and heavier shadows in the yellow centre.
Composition feels a bit in between — going wider to centre the yellow with white around it, or tighter to focus just on the centre and bees, might strengthen it.
At f/11 on Micro Four Thirds, diffraction may be softening things slightly, so f/8 with focus stacking could help if more depth is needed. A light touch of noise reduction may also help.
Overall, a strong subject with good detail across the key areas.
James: I love the party crashers and that you were able to get all of them sharp. Did you really get this at 1/200 or 1/2000? i would expect a lot more motion blur on the bees at 1/200 but whatever this is a pretty solid capture. More room on the left to include the full shadow of the poppy center and to give the leftmost bee some more room would boost this a bit fo¢r me but that’s no more than a 1¢ nit. Nicely done. >=))>
James, the tight view with all four bees nicely sharp is pretty amazing. Yes, I would be tempted to back out, but just a bit, you don’t want to make the bees too small in the frame, a few more millimeters of space between the three bee’s wings and the frame would be nice (I think…). The details in the flower’s center and the sightly soft, “crinkly” petals both look very good.
