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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> CSLR Challenge 87: Living Colour (hosted by Gayle Knowles) >> Eligible > Orchid Man
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18-FEB-2007 Brent

Orchid Man

Canon EOS 30D ,Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
1/25s f/4.0 at 100.0mm iso200 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Karen Moen20-Feb-2007 05:24
Beautiful macro image. The colors are incredible. It reminds me of a G. O'Keefe painting. My opinion about the yellow is that it keeps the image from being too static. Voted.
Canon DSLR Challenge20-Feb-2007 03:56
Thanks everyone for your comments :-)
~Brent
Canon DSLR Challenge20-Feb-2007 01:54
WOW, Brent!! Great shot! Leave it as is, IMhO. Cheers, -mikey
jnconradie19-Feb-2007 17:10
I also tried orchids... and now feel relieved that I did not post any of my attempts. Yours (and others) would have put those to shame. Very well done! Regards ~jnconradie
Guest 19-Feb-2007 15:39
I would keep the yellow - it's honest, and the image still holds. (my two-penneth).
gav
Nugar19-Feb-2007 12:50
Brent, I don't see the yellow as negative here. You *may* want to clone it, but it doesn't bother me. Cropping the lower third would mean cutting the deep purple structure and would break the picture for me.
Vikas Malhotra19-Feb-2007 08:38
Gorgeous colours... very nice.

Cheers, Vikas.
Canon DSLR Challenge19-Feb-2007 07:16
Well thanks guys, I somehow thought of Orchids as being masculine without knowing specifically why. I guess I added "man" to the title because to me it looks like a person doing a spacewalk there- could have just as easily been an "Orchid Woman" :-) I don't know Traveller, the lower yellow really didn't bother me and somehow even seemed interesting in a way. I'll look it over again when I have some time and it isn't late at night and see how I feel about it then. I'm wondering if others see that yellow as a negative? Thanks for your comment as always and being honest about your opinion.
~Brent
Canon DSLR Challenge19-Feb-2007 06:10
Sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees...Brent, this is wonderful, but, imho, you've gotta get rid of the patch of yellow in the lower center.

Clone it out, or, better yet, simpy do a 1/3rd bottom crop...believe me it still works.

As the artist you can disagree...but what would be your reasons for keeping the yellow?

Best Wishes, Traveller
Nugar19-Feb-2007 04:40
Well, I'm utterly ignorant about orchids. What I can say is that to me this seems like a character from Star Wars!

Beautiful flower and excellent capture.
Canon DSLR Challenge19-Feb-2007 03:14
I think I don't understand the previous comment. Orchid essentially means testicles, or having testicles, so on that basis, I guess masculine? On the other hand, most orchids, this one included, are hermaphrodites, having both stigma and pollen, arranged in masses called pollinia. Normally, the pollinia are covered by an anther cap until the flower is pollinated. This flower seems to be missing its anther cap, making the yellow/orange pollinia clearly visible.

Or maybe it refers to the form, in which case, I guess you need only use your imagination.

BTW, I assume this is a Vanda coerulea hybrid. Do you have a cultivar name? Blue is rare in orchids, but as you can tell by the specific name, it's what this species is known for. Great subject for this challenge.

-- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge19-Feb-2007 02:31
Masculine? Feminine? Take a guess! Sam Attal