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Flower in the Dirt
Flower in the Dirt
banmorn


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Dirt (Advanced Editing V)
Camera: Nikon D70s
Lens: Sigma 50mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro for Nikon
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Date: Dec 10, 2006
Aperture: f/ 32
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/3 sec.
Galleries: Still Life, Floral
Date Uploaded: Dec 10, 2006

 A take off of a Paul McCartney album title. Bet ya it may not be the only one. Oh Well....No DNMC for titles, I hope.

Shot in studio....I gave my florist Michael at Pure Design some BW floral prints from DPC prints yesterday. He was going to give me an orchid.....I took pity upon the poor thing cause it would only just die in the dry heat of my apartment in the colder months. Instead I asked for a bag of potting soil and he said...hunh? I told about the challenge and he gave it to me. Also got the Sunflower and some other flowers as well.

Post: Processed from raw twice in PSElements 3.0, once for the flower and once for the dirt. I processed each and then placed the darker dirt flower layer over the lighter dirt layer (background wise) and merged, erasing the dark dirt to reveal the lighter. Left the flower only except for a dust spot or two and some nasty imperfections on the petals which were either cloned or healed. Sharpen.Cropped. Resize. Sharpen. Save for web.

Statistics
Place: 68 out of 144
Avg (all users): 5.5351
Avg (commenters): 6.0000
Avg (participants): 5.4638
Avg (non-participants): 5.5776
Views since voting: 796
Views during voting: 247
Votes: 185
Comments: 7
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 12/22/2006 04:45:24 AM
Hello from the Critique Club!

I have studied your image and have the following to offer:

Composition/perspective: For the challenge (see below) the composition seems a bit unbalanced. The flower is the stronger element and consumes most of the frame. It draws and holds your attention leaving the rest kind of secondary. The perspective to the subject is excellent however. Lends itself very well to capturing the rich detail and strong textures. Focus is clear and DoF is nice - both surface planes are clear. With the flower so large it is hard to balance the placement to a thirds placement and as such it seems a bit center weighted.

Lighting: very well lit with no flares or dark spots. Shadows are really incidental and just enough to bring out the detail and texture of the soil. Clarity is excellent with the even fall of light across the whole scene. Well done!

Color: very rich and well preserved. The palette is well balanced and not over-saturated. Everything looks natural.

Challenge - this I feel is where it fell short a bit. With Dirt as the challenge topic, dirt is not the main draw or element of this shot. Although it is clearly present and intended to be a main part, the flower is so strong that it takes away from the surroundings. Perhaps if it was from farther back so the flower was not so large in the frame.

Overall/my opinion: I like the crispness and clarity of the shot. it is well shot and it appears as though much care was taken to get the lighting just right. I would have liked to see more dirt in the shot or at least the flower not be so consuming, but the detail and technical elements of the shot make it a strong presentation.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
12/15/2006 07:22:51 AM
Lovely clean simple lines and colours to this picture. Well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/14/2006 05:43:22 AM
Nice sharp picture, but the flower is more of the subject than the dirt (at least to me). The yellow/green combination really stand out.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/13/2006 06:15:58 PM
good one
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/12/2006 06:10:16 PM
"Flower in the lower right hand corner" instead of the middle might be a stronger composition, and feature the dirt better. Nice straight on of the flower however, and happy looking dirt.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/12/2006 09:10:43 AM
Fair composition. The lighting is good. The shot isn't really saying much to me though. I don't "feel" any sort of message. 5
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/11/2006 11:58:47 AM
This has to be the worlds shortest sunflower...great comp :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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