Nature’s Engineering in Bud Design

[Marty E]

Here’s a crop from a larger shot I took of an opening bud of datura wrightii from the nightshade family. I was struck by how the petals were designed to unfold from an efficiently tight bud into a fully wide-open, upright flower.

I’d like to emphasize its aspect of design, so here are two of my attempts – one in color adjusted slightly and one in B&W for contrast and sharpened for detail. Any suggestions?

I’ve also posted the full flower in case you’re not familiar with it. It’s a beauty!

 

[Rob Wood (Admin)]

Ooff that black and white hits hardest by a mile IMHO. Love it. I don’t have too much to criticise about that one. But I think you’re finding a real style with that genre.

It is also one of my favourite genres so I look forward to sharing more!

[Marty E]

Thanks, Rob! Your oof is all the encouragement I need to keep trying more B&W lol

Stay tuned! @admin-2

[beth]

the second color and the b&w work well.  the color palette in the first doesn’t have enough color contrast with the yellow and green, the second one has much better color contrast.

[Marty E]

Thanks for your feedback, @loki! The first color one was the unprocessed original. I liked the second color one too, glad you agree. As for the B&W one, I’m always trying to remember to look for shots that have a range of tones to play with. This turned out to be a good candidate.

[Federico Alegria]

impressive engineering by mother Nature indeed, and WOW, the mono version is an absolute winner!

[Marty E]

Thank you, my friend! I’m happy to hear your WOW on my monochrome 😀 Nature never ceases to amaze. @federicoalegria

[Anne Hornsby]

Beautiful flower!  I also really like the B&W version.  Did you sharpen the inner rings, Marty?  Or dial up the contrast? It looks like it to me, and if so you could experiment with dialing that  back slightly.    I actually like the 1st better than the 2nd because for me the second has too much contrast/sharpening in the inner rings, but I understand what Beth means about less contrast in the 1st.  Have fun!

[Rob Wood (Admin)]

@annehornsby We would like to see your absentte note, please. 😉

[Anne Hornsby]

Hah!!  🙂   His note is in the mail!

[Marty E]

I went back to try more shots a few days later during a light morning rain. Any thoughts on these two compared to the first one posted above? The DOF is 5.6 for all. I plan to keep trying as long as the flowers keep putting out new buds.

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