Thanks for the info Kim. This shot was taken in the morning with the pot placed so that the flower was in direct sunlight. I will try the diffused flashlight technique now. I dont have a macro lens...yet...but i use closeup filters from time to time, nowhere near as good but the only affordable solution for me at the moment. Hope to get halfway as good as you guys here someday... cheers
Recently my attention has been caught by flowers with either interesting textures or interesting colour patterns... something to set them apart from other flowers. Mainly its the bright colours and intricate details that make me want to get in close to the flowers... For smaller flowers (do you have any macro lenses?) look for either getting in close with macro lenses to highlight detail, or looking for backgrounds that compliment the flower.
I like the placement of your flower and I think the water drops are a nice touch, but I don't see too much detail in the petals... they look a soft purple to me, lacking any defining petal detail. The background has is a complimentary colour, but I find that the lighter lines of green are distracting... maybe a aperture of f 5.6 or lower would help to blur it out a bit more?
Don't give up.... flowers are great subject to learn light, texture and the importance of detail. A trick that I've learned is to use a flashlight (sometimes diffused with tissue paper) to spotlight the flower and give it more life than the background. Can't wait to see more!
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