Well, what a delightful set of images for this challenge, and gratified that there are so many submissions, thank you all for entering. Thoroughly enjoyed working through them all. As I said on another B/W composition, given that color is removed, composition, textures, DOF and even Bokeh become the dominant factors of an image. These are the factors that inform my judging exercise. Some comments:
Gump- Homage to Monet, and a fine one it is too@ He would have approved. Setting the mark high with this one, lovely backlit Poppie, with some fine details to delight. I like the background noisy bits, gives the impression of the flower floating out in space with some black holes for company.
Bruce Clark- Flower- Beautiful Shot, lovely contrast with that black background. And drops always add to an image especially flowers.
Aaacb- Apropos the above comments, and a fine composition with some stunning textures and Bokeh. Beautiful light on this one!
Atupdate-Christmas Cactus- And another beauty, super textures on this one too, and interesting composition. Just wondering why you left that bit on the upper right, perhaps to give context. Removing it would not detract from the image!
Djb47-something different, and which works very well indeed, like a flower in a bubble, except here there details are just wonderful!
Pacerr- Lily Rev- Wonderful, great DOF, textures is superb. Just want to rub those petals between the fingers to get the feel of them. Composition and some fine details make for a superb image!
Jchorst - Flower before a wall-nice one, apropos my comment about Bokeh, pulled of nicely here. Nice tonal range and composition! Nice note of mystery to this one with just barely a hint of windows.
Vaskebjorn-the Screamer . And glad you listened, super backlit flower, which typically will result in some loss of details, but sufficient here to appreciate- just check out all those fine hairs. It may give me an itch, but I’d be happy to give it a tummy rub
Pelto- Inside a cucumber flower-never seen one, and this certainly spiked the interest. Superb macro shot, oozing loads of textures and a great composition to boot! Excellent.
Stephenhampshire -Forget-me-nots and a dandelion seed head- Well there you go with the Bokeh, and popping good seed head. Lovely tonal range, and the centered composition works a treat! Let not forget the contrasts here! Great shot!
Kerrowdown-delicate dilemma- I hope the dilemma was whether to pick it and put it up to the nose, and not which damsel to give it to
. Lovely composition, lovely light, and I love the PP you have given to this- with that slightly blue hue. Add some textures and a black background to focus the eye firmly on this beauty, and you’re sure to win that lady’s heart- even if it is just a printed image!
Weverka-Gold Dust Day Gecko-Well done on your perseverance, justly rewarded with a fine image, though it does not enjoy prime focus, it adds a nice touch. Like the feel of layers in this image, and a wad of textures to enjoy! And as with a few others, the tonal range is fantastic!
CedrusMacro-Orchids -The only sepia submission, not always the best when it comes to flowers, but you pulled it off with this one, and of course orchids enjoy top spot when it comes to textures. Nicely composed.
Jacamar-Balloon flowers- Just wonderful DOF you got here, and Bokeh, and very well handled whites-nothing blown out here! Textures are there, so is composition, delightful in B/W, and would love to see this in color too!
1st spot to Pacerr-Magic and one for the wall
2nd Pelto-Super Macro photography.
3rd. djb47-very nice creative shot!
Happy to give all others HM, but in particular Kerrowdown, for that lovey hue of blue.