Lori Azevedo
September 2023 - Sunflower
About the Image(s)
As a family project my granddaughters and planted a giant sunflower garden last spring. It was fun to watch them unfold and change every day. I took this photo with my Nikon D850 with Tamron 24-70 lens. Even my tripod was too short to reach the flowers. I had to balance on a ladder with my camera. My exposure was 1/2500 sec with f3.5. Post processing in Photoshop and Topaz DeNoise AI.
This round’s discussion is now closed!
11 comments posted
The sharpness and detail are exquisite! As odd as it is from me I would like to see a slightly looser crop with more room to the left to allow the eye to move into the center of the sunflower. I feel it is unfortunate the bottom and right edges are cut off. Especially that leaf on the right side with the nice veins that just lead us out of the photo. Posted: 09/19/2023 21:24:10
Thank you. I'm my mind I was concentrating on the movement to the left and ignored the right leaf. Good catch. Posted: 09/23/2023 03:12:23
From a detail, bokeh and color palette perspective I think this is a very nice shot. I agree with Matt's comment, though: the shot would be more impactful, I think, if you had been able to frame the shot to include the whole flower (i.e., all the leaves as well as the center)...you have cut off quite a bit at the bottom and also along the right side. OR you could try being a bit contrarian and crop in even more so your real subject becomes the yellow interleaved section in the middle, framed by just a little of the green outer leaves. You might be surprised at how interesting just that center section looks with a REALLY tight crop. All in all, though, you did a nice job for someone teetering on the edge of a ladder!! Posted: 09/20/2023 20:14:23
Thank you. Posted: 09/23/2023 03:13:08
(Groups 7 & 73 & 97)
What a terrific image Lori - you absolutely nailed it! The composition is excellent, the technical aspects are spot on, and the color is both a bit different and spectacular in my opinion. I belong to two photo clubs, and this would extremely well at either.
Would love to see all your settings the next time and the actual focal length you used on your 24-70mm - I'm curious if you experimented with different apertures, because I don't think I would have thought to use f3.5 out of the box - but in this case it's perfect - the subject is tack sharp and your background is nicely blurred.
Just a terrific image - thanks for sharing
Posted: 09/22/2023 17:44:41
Would love to see all your settings the next time and the actual focal length you used on your 24-70mm - I'm curious if you experimented with different apertures, because I don't think I would have thought to use f3.5 out of the box - but in this case it's perfect - the subject is tack sharp and your background is nicely blurred.
Just a terrific image - thanks for sharing
Posted: 09/22/2023 17:44:41
Thank you. Posted: 09/23/2023 03:16:26
(Groups 7 & 73 & 97)
BTW ~ I did not comment but the first thing I looked at was the crop - and as I see it's controversial :-) - I could go either way, but frankly while I usually don't like to see cut off "anything," in this case I believe the crop helps because of where the most interest is - in the details in the center of the flower and I think the petals on the edges would draw the eye.
Good discussion Posted: 09/23/2023 04:24:25
Good discussion Posted: 09/23/2023 04:24:25
THis is a lovely image and I think the composition and color palate are terrific. I really like the way you have captured this sunflower opening and the tiny yellow pedals are just unfurling from the center which is captured by the camera.
I agree with Rick that the image would be more impactful if Either you cropped in, OR you gave the flower more room and included all the leaves. You could go either way.
Nice image.
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Posted: 09/24/2023 19:12:01
I agree with Rick that the image would be more impactful if Either you cropped in, OR you gave the flower more room and included all the leaves. You could go either way.
Nice image.
.
Posted: 09/24/2023 19:12:01
Very, very sharp and delightful bokeh. As for cropping, I like it just the way it is. I'd be curious about what the ISO was. I certainly don't see any noise. Posted: 09/25/2023 11:14:02
Here is the original sunflower I edited from. I believe my ISO setting was 160. I shot this with a Nikon D850 and Tamron 24-70 lens at f2.8. I was shooting towards the sun and using another tree as background. You can see why I cropped it tight to capture the yellow petals unfolding and most of the leaves pulling towards the left. The leaf on the right...guess I should have just removed it. Posted: 09/25/2023 23:22:09
I enjoyed it just the way you presented it, and appreciate that while you did get much more to work with in your original, you selected a crop that compelled interest. I'd love to see this as it unfolds and makes the seeds evident! Posted: 09/28/2023 15:23:59