ROSES...are red!
by KIM986

Comment by Jutilda:
VERY pretty. I love that one is out of focus in the background and they mimic one another. Beautiful bokeh.

REPTILIAN EYE
by KIM986

Comment by saintaugust:
really interesting. wasnt sure what i was looking at for a moment there.

Hanging Around
by KIM986

Comment by JeffDay:
Pretty bokeh, nice composition

BREATHTAKING
by KIM986

Comment by JeffDay:
Hey this is great, love the expression, and perfect crop selection.

BREATHTAKING
by KIM986

Comment by Jutilda:
I've never seen such gorgeous eyelashes. terrific portrait!!!

Liquid Flowers
by KIM986

Comment by sholling:
Seems to be a strong "death" theme in this challenge. Does look like the flowers have melted, so kudos for the title.

Liquid Flowers
by KIM986

Comment by lovethelight:
I wish the things that were in focus were a little sharper, also seems a bit pixilated, nice choice of subject though i like the colors and that it isn't your typical pretty flower

Blur for Sure
by KIM986

Comment by JeffDay:
oooh artsy fartsy

Bet you can't do this~
by KIM986

Comment by glad2badad:
Great catch! This is a fun photo to look at. The water indentations are very cool.

I took a peek at the cropped version of this and have to say that I think the composition is actually stronger with the leaf than without. The leaf adds a sense of scale and context. Additionally, as you pointed out in your notes on the cropped version, you do get more noise taking away more pixels. Some NI (neat image - software noise reduction program) could help clean up the noise on the bug, even in this non-cropped version.

It seems that your focal point was hitting on the actual water marks and not the bug. You haven't filled in the aperture/shutter/iso sections of the photo info...I'm guessing it was shallow (F2.8 to 3.5?). If you had the focus on the bug's back or head, with F8 or so aperture (maybe even F5.6), you would have the bug and the water in focus with slight blurring of the leaf.

Just some observations. :) BTW, I like the way you vote! ;P

I once was a worm!
by KIM986

Comment by JeffDay:
Uhhh this would of done really well in the BOKEH challenge!!!!!!!