Beautiful colours. But what makes this an extraordinary shot for me is the mass of white detail textures that are set off by the vertical red threads. Each draws attention to the other. The overall tone reminds me of a candycane. I wonder if a complementary frame might set this up even more. I'm amazed that this was taken at 1/15 second. Was there no wind? Truly superb shot.
Tlaloc
Mark
22-Aug-2005 02:19
Hi John. Congratulations winning the last challenge and thanks for the critique. I figured out how to updated the technical info by hand. (I took this with my old Pentax M100 f4 macro lens which doesn't allow automatic capturing of the f-stop etc. So, I'm guessing at the f-stop based on the ISO and shutter speed as I didn't write it down at the time.) I agree regarding the cut-off tendrils. Unfortunately they go astray quite far outside the uncropped image. I cropped them further due to a very unpleasant white background behind the part of the upper tendril that I did capture. Just to clarify, the fuzzy parts you see just above the stem are sepals, not petals or leaves.
-Mark
Guest
22-Aug-2005 00:54
Mark, great image. Rather than 'just' being a flower/seed head, the texture is very interesting, especially with the light you've used, well supported by the great shapes and colours and good, contrasting bokeh. The hairy texture continues to the petals/leaves(?) and stem to connect the whole thing. The makeup almost gives the impression of being a cross between a plant and an animal with the 'feathers' growing out of the plant.
My only suggestion is to avoid cutting off little bits like those couple of stray 'tendrils' at the right. Also, could you please include your aperture and focal length with the other information to give us more of a clue about the technical side of this capture.
When I see this one, the texture stands out as much as the shape and colour, so it's a good fit for the theme. It almost makes me itchy to look at it. ;^)
John
