Just thought I'd share these two photos from New Years 2007. C&C welcome!



Flower




Glass

[Falcons]

Stunning!

The flower shot is absolutely superb and I love the effect you have with the shot of the glass.

[amateur6]

The flower shot is absolutely superb and I love the effect you have with the shot of the glass.

Seconded on the orchid!

As for the glass -- personally, I'd crop out the glass and keep the top background.

With an eye towards the glass-maker as a client, I'd want to see a brighter product and fewer distractions in the background -- not the round highlights, but probably just a lower PoV, maybe a smaller stack of napkins, move that chair (or whatever the high upright light shape is) and lose the green glass (or at least move it a lot closer so that it's less in focus).

I'm not crazy about the vertical dark lines either, especially the way they interrupt the background OoF highlights.

But hey, I'm picky! And yeah, "put up or shut up"...

[ChipB]

The orchid is super - great DOF and color quality. At first I wasn't sure about the second shot - but the more I looked at it, the better I liked it. Only suggestion would be to have the glass more "highlighted" - but I'm the amateur here!!

[daacon]

Well done on both shots I like the glass with the effect.

[spyglass]

I love the flower shot. The background is a perfect partner for the shot. I like the effect in the glass shot. The only thing that I find distracting is the green glass in the front lower right. It competes a little.

Ok I will ask the question that we are all burning to ask - is the effect in the glass shot a result of lens flare caused by light being directed through the angles of the wine glasses cut surface onto the lens? Or are you in fact Harry Potter or Jonathan Strange working some fiendish magic.

[Ash]

Orchids are beautiful - the soft gray background adds to the lovely mood!
The glass shot simply took my breath away - it's the bokeh! What lens did you use?!?
Take the green glass away, and you'd would have me paying for that shot!
Thanks for sharing.

[Heinrich Lohmann]

The orchid shot is a superb photo, print and matte it and hang it. The glass shot doesn't do it for me, too many elements competing with each other.

Heinrich

[Shashinki]

I liked the out of focus lights in the 2nd picture (dubbed "glass shot" in this thread) alot.
I agree with Chip that it might have been beneficial to make the glass more the focus of attention, be it lighting or getting the glass in its entirety in the shot (or crop it out entirely as amateur suggested).

The flower shot is superb, I especially enjoyed the contrast between the colors of the subject against the grey background. It also has great composition, which adds to the total effect.