What do you think?

[Jon]

I am not too sure about these two shots, I tried something a little different but I am not sure if I like it.

[richardkm]

Hi Jon

It looks as if you've used flash on the main subject, which gives it the startling brilliance and superb sharpness. The only problem I have with it is that the background is too dark. A longer shutter speed would have increased the brightness of the background without effecting the flower. For my flower photographs, I try to get 1 stop under-exposure of the background and use the flash to fill-in on the subject. When using flash, the aperture controls the flash, the shutter controls the ambient light, so by playing around with the settings it is possible to get a well balanced photo. This is the technique I use on all my plant pics.

[Jon]

I agree entirely, I used flash, deliberately underexposing the background, I have noticed for some subjects it has worked but I don't think it has worked this time!
Jon

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Jon

I agree entirely, I used flash, deliberately underexposing the background, I have noticed for some subjects it has worked but I don't think it has worked this time!
Jon

I quite like the bluebell, very striking portrait, not so sure about the other (aquilegia?) perhaps because the background isn't dark enough or the flower reflecting too much of the light back.

I sort of like this style for portraits of flower, I accidentally managed some similar last year (though not as good) but certainly probably not to everyone's taste!

If I had got the DOF better for this one, I would have been pleased with it

[Maccattack]

I find it difficult to give advice about flower shots , as has been suggested sometimes dark backgrounds can be effective . In the top flower(I thought it was a dahlia!) I actually like the spotlit appearance , but I would crop out the sky completely , then it could look a little like a shaft of sunlight hitting the subject . Maybe just having one stem would help . Just keep trying combinations of flash /background until you are happy .Please ignore most of what I say as it's mainly to help me get my ideas straight.
Cheers
Malcolm

[jennyb]

I really like the bluebell picture (I am rather fond of bluebells). I like the darker background - it really shows off the subject.

I would agree with Malcolm about cropping off the sky on the other one. It is distracting.

Jenny

[nutmeg]

I like the bluebell - for me the dark background works well here