My friend. Let me tell you this. You are on the right path. ;) Very nice macro. In almost all respects perfectly captured. Keep playing around. That is the way to go. :) Is it some kind of magnolia?

The only thing I noticed that is out of place is the leaves in the background that adds little or nothing to the whole. It's only because the rest of the background is so pure and simple that this is an issue. Normally a few leaves in the background only adds to the piece.

I believe, but this is probably just a figment of my imagination, that the difference between a first rate shot like this and a truly magnificent piece is a coherence or interplay between the subject of the photo and the foreground/background. This is not always so easy to accomplish but who said it would be easy. ^_^ You are a good bit on your way of becoming an accomplished photographer now, thanks to your playing around. Like I said, that is the way to go. Keep it up and I will have to retire as the one giving you friendly advice. ^_^

I cant say that I am sad at viewing your great flower works!...in fact I am totally enjoying those beautiful images that come from your camera...as is this one1....lovely colour and balance....and the compostion is good too................

Marvelific macro Mimi!! I think it's purrrfect!! Great detail and colors really working on the dark backdrop!! Very choice work!!

That's a wonderful Macro Mimi. The dark background sure makes the colors come out. You've done a great job with this. Anita

Perfect macro shot mimi.... wonderful colour and composition... love the dark background, it really makes the flower stand right out... beautiful

Hi Mimi, my goodness gracious, what can I say? This tops the charts and will stand out among the many gorgeous shots in your gallery as being the star of the show! This truly Mimi, is beautiful, the color, the grace and flair of the flower and your talent has delivered a superb piece of work to us many fans of yours! I veiw this image as classy, sophisticated and refined in every sense of the word!! It is off to Hollywood for you to join the other great photographers in Movie Land, smiling! Teasing aside, my dear, this image I love and into my favs where it will enjoy all of it's sibblings! LOL! Also Mimi, thanks so very much for all of your comments on my recent uploads! You know how much I appreciate them! Sincerely, Marilyn

This is an amazing macro you have capture Mimi, You can see all the feathery design on tje pollen and the texture of the petals. great work
jason

Beautifully simplistic shot. Just gorgeous! Love the detail. Great job!

Hi Mimi. You're having fun, and that's the most important thing.
With macros,or any picture, for that matter, your area of sharpness(DEPTH OF FIELD) depends on the lens opening you use to take the picture.
With today's cameras, all being fully Automatic, It chooses the best combination or lens opening and shutter speed, to produce a sharp, well exposed picture.
Unfortunately,with Macro's when you are that close to a subject, only a small area of the subject is really sharp(the precise point you focused on) That point will be sharp, but everything in front and beyond that point, is progressively more out of focus.

If your camera has manual controls, where you can set it to
A/AV or S(Aperture or Shutter Prority) you can choose the lens opening, and your exposure will still be automatic.
Smaller lens openings, (f/11, f/16 f/22) will give you a much wider area of sharpness on the subject, and still throw the background, pleasantly out of focus.

When you focus on a point of the subject, by pressing your shutter release half way down, the focus is locked on that point, as long as you keep the button depressed halfway.
Now you can recompose your picture in the viewfinder, the way you want to capture it, and press the button, the rest of the way down, to capture your shot.

Depth of Field (Area os Sharpness) of any subject, from the point you lock the focus on, is roughly 1/3rd in front of that point, and 2/3rds, beyond the focus point.

To simplify this, If you're shooting a 3" diameter flower, focus on a point, 1" in from the leading edge to produce best overall sharpness
The degree of sharpness is dependant on the lens opening.

If I have you totally confused, PM or Email me, with your camera model, and we'll sort it out. It's very easy, once you know what to set.
Regards'
Doug < baysmeister@gmail.com >

Beautiful macro of the flower Mimi. I agree though with %Kjh000 that the leaves distract from the rest. Rest assured, this is no torture for me to view your beautiful flowers! :)

Its a beautiful photo with vivid color and a terrific subject.I might as well add my input as others have which is not so much the leaves in the background but the ones in the front that distracts ever so little.Something like a F14 at this range might have done the trick.Makes my desktop as is!!.

Hi ; D!

PINK! PINK! I LOVE pink! It is such such a sweet and beautiful coulour, but with this photo you make pink also a master piece of art and coulours. The angle andcoulours are perfect. Keep up the great work! ( As you always do!)

From your buddy,

Calmagical

P.S If those are some photos from your garden I would be blown away by the rest of your beatiful garden.

This is a fine macro and a pleasant wallpaper image. Dougs advice on depth of field is right on. I shoot my macros at iso50, f11 and use a fill flash to avoid long exposures for the sharpest image possible. The only draw back is some unwanted shadows if a makshift diffuser isn't used and the subject is too close to a background object. I use a diffuser that was made from a translucent pill bottle with the ends cut off then split down one side. I spread this tube open and clip it over the flash head on my camera. It gives a soft diffused light and fills in the shadow so it's not so harsh.
Russ

What a lovely subject to experiment with Mimi. The pink against the black background really makes this flower shine to me. Looks like you're off to a winning start .

Tks Mimi for the gorgeous image, and a huge thanks to the two boys who have shared some of their secrets with us, I have done a simple copy/paste and save for the info, lol.
Now it appears that I have found a competition for the title of macro queen, lmbo.
JuneBug

Not much left to be said of this beauty exceptfor my 100% agreement with the others. I especially like the quality of the detail in the heart of the flower. Lovely work, Mimi.

Just gorgeous, Mimi. What else is there to day?

Ooops! I missed this one. Woderful composition. I like the black background to. Top class, Mimi :-)

How simple nature can be...very elegant...I just love it. What a wonderful picture, I really enjoyed viewing it and it will make a great Desktop. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for such a nice photo.

beautiful colors