Fuchsias.jpg
by jomari

Comment:
Perfect exposure and nice composition with the eye following the line from lower left to upper right.

azelea purple.jpg
by avalanche1030

Comment:
Azalea flowers are a beautiful choice for a flower side challenge. I'm guessing that you used a large aperture around about the middle of the day because it is difficult to locate the focus point and the light is a little harsh.

Using a smaller aperture might have improved this shot by allowing more of the flowers to be in focus. If you're subject were a single flower (a flower singled out among others or just one lone flower) then a large aperture would help isolate the subject and minimize background and foreground distractions. However, when shooting a group of flowers (especially seperate flowers in a group) it is better to use a smaller aperture to increase your depth of field to get more of them in focus.

Contrast is a little low because of the harsh overhead light. Photography within 3 hours after sunrise and within 3 hours before sunset usually results in more appealing images.

Pink Perfection
by TCGuru

Comment:
That is a very cool flower! I like the composition in which you have the two flowers complimenting/imitating each other, as well as the way you composed the shot on the left third leaving some leading space in what appears to be in front of their face. In other words, you chose what I feel was the right side to leave open in the image. They do appear to be 'looking' to the right, don't they? Or am I losing it?

DSC_3783.jpg
by diver

Comment:
I recognized it as a lily by the single stalk and multiple flowers. Seeing the location where it was shot led me to find that it was in a swamp. Hmmmm, swamp lily? Sure enough.

Very pretty subject for this flower side challenge. One of the flowers is a little blown out in the highlights. That is hard to avoid when you have such a wide range of lighting as you had in front of you here. Not much could be done once the shot had been taken, but maybe you could recognize this situation in the future and either shade the flower or move it a little so that either all or none of it is in direct sunlight. I very often use my tripod to move water lilies that are just beyond my reach while I take the shot using one hand to hold the camera.

IMG_4260-web.jpg
by rodneyg

Comment:
Very nice. I like the combination of the well focused yellow bloom on the pink/fuschia and green background. As has already been mentioned, your images will almost always be appreciated more if they are larger. With no size requirements in a side challenge I go by the advanced editing challenge sizes which are 720 pixels on the long side and 200kb when saved for web.

Red
by Carlo21

Comment:
Very dramatic shot (the combination of red and yellow tends to do that). I really like the focus on just the ends, so sharp that we get a lot of detail of the hairs.

Can you see me now?
by Pikkel

Comment:
The impact is striking immediately upon opening this image. The colors and post processing that you applied is very dramatic. I also like the border which compliments the blurriness of the image. I would, however, like to see a little more focus on the center of the flower.

Having taken a closer look at the center of the flower, I see that there are tell tale signs of extreme post processing in the yellow. I'm guessing that you selected that area and applied a lot of post processing to it. The edges of the selected area show up like a beacon. To avoid this, I suggest that you select an area that is larger than whan you want to enhance and then use the history brush in varying degrees of intensity to fade the transition from the rest of the image. If I am mistaken in my assumption, I aplogize.

Color everywhere
by Pikkel

Comment:
Wow, definitely an appropriate and descriptive title. The focus seems to be on the iron hanger and the vertical stems of the purple flowers. My eye tends to want to see the focus on the yellow flowers on the left, maybe because they are the most prominent flowers in the image.

You used almost the absolute largest aperture that your lens will allow. I would suggest using a smaller aperture to increase depth of field when capturing a scene in which there is no primary subject, and then focus one third of the way into the photo.

May flower side challenge #1
by Denise

Comment:
I like the point of view of these tulips. The lighting seems a bit harsh washing out the color a little. A translucent fabric screen would probably have been useful here. The dark blue sky makes a nice backdrop.

day 1 - oleander.JPG
by rachelellen

Comment:

Originally posted by KarenNfld: What a pretty flower, I've never seen oleander before.

We have lots of Oleander here in South Florida. Here, this plant would soon be a great place to photography caterpillars. They love them and get infested with them.

Nice sharp image with good focus and bokeh.