Critique Welcomed Wild Flowers

[Rense Haveman]

I find it extremely difficult to photograph wild flowers. As a biologist, or more precisely a botanist, I want to capture them so you can identify them, but in the same time I want to make not only accurate photos, so to say, but also pretty ones.

At pentaxforums.com, we have a challenge called 'Single in...". To fight LBA, the participants of this challenge have to post one photo a day made by one lens of choice during one month. My choice for May 2013 is the Auto Yashinon 50/1.7. And I want to shoot flowers this month!

My entries for May 1st and May 2nd...


May 1st - Oxalis acetosella by Rense Haveman, on Flickr




May 2nd - Anemone nemorosa by Rense Haveman, on Flickr



And a spare one....

Dreamy Dandelion by Rense Haveman, on Flickr

 

[Pete Askew]

Gorgeous Rense and for the first two at least I think you have achieved your objective: Form and a bit of habitat. I alos really like the soft, almost abstract, nature of the third.

 

[Rense Haveman]

Thanks Pete!

 

[Dan Cattermole]

These are brilliant Rense, I love the second one, so delicate and perfect framing in my opinion.

 

[Rense Haveman]

Thank you Dan! A friend called it a sad photo...

 

[Dan Cattermole]

I can see where they're coming from, but I think it's still brilliant

 

[Peter McCullough]

Hi Rense;

Very nicely done. Yes I agree, hard to photograph the wild stuff, and when it's windy it's virtually impossible etc. I like your set here, beautiful.

 

[Kev Pugh]

Brilliant Rense, love em all even the sad one, perhaps it'll cheer up now it knows people like it

 

[Lee Webb]

I prefer the second image to the other two but can't explain why properly. It's beautiful and peaceful. The framing works well and I think the colours and exposure are perfect.

 

[Rense Haveman]

Peter, Kev, Lee, thank you!

 

[Julian de'Courcy]

Rense These are simply superb.

 

[Beth Carter]

i love the second shot, perfect. love the shallow dof and the detail in the petal. the flower looks pretty lonely.

 

[Steve Boykin]

The second one is absolutely stunning! Beth is right. It's very poignant because of the DOF and the droop. I also really like the leaf on the left being in focus.

 

[Ralph Thornton]

Your photos are good.

You mentioned that the goal is to make photographs of wildflowers that allow for identification too. To do that you might try capturing the entire plant (flowers, leaves, etc.) and a snippet of the habitat in which you fond the flower.

I spend a lot of time looking over the flower patch looking for a way to capture as much as possible while keeping as much as possible in focus. It hard but with a lot of patience one can often find things align on a plane to allow Maximus sharpness.