*Hello from the Critique Club*
Your image has an immediate and strong visual impact. The dark background helps the flower stand out giving it punch.
I like your choice of aperture for a sufficiently deep DOF to enable some detail in the heart of the flower and yet soften the edges of the petals in the foreground. Like your commenters, the image feels somewhat under-appreciated in terms of votes but perhaps this may be because of that very DOF. It could be argued that a sharper edge to the foreground petals would have added to its impact against the dark background. Using the same aperture and bringing the focus point nearer the front would also have softened the dark centre of the flower where there is little detail anyway. It is an alternative approach that may or may not appeal to you but I hope it may help you to understand that there may have been those who do prefer that approach and consequently marked it down as a result, though the 1s, 2s and 3s do seem severe and unjustified.
I like the soft focus areas of the stalk and leaves and their diagonal, the composition does of course make full use of the RoT and the most beneficial one of the hotspots. The only real criticism I can constructively offer is the bright highlight where the stalk and leaves meet, I feel this would benefit from being toned down and made less obvious. Also the colour saturation whilst it makes it very vivid also feels just a touch on the heavy side leaving it somewhat lacking in subtlety.
All in all, I think it is a very competent attempt that meets the challenge well. |
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