Flowers and Spines

A flowering cactus near the computer had been beckoning for some time. So after some long and intense Zoom meetings during the last few days, a relaxing evening with camera and cactus seemed to be in order. Here are the results. K3 + Irix 150mm macro, focus stacked with Afinity Photo (36 images for the first, 41 for the second).

Reviewing the images for the second revealed that a very tiny bug had been wandering around the flower, a different place in each image. Stacking the images has made it much less obvious, but it's there (in several places) if you know what you're looking for. Happy bug hunting!

Thoughts, comments welcome as usual.

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Steve

Warm, sharp yet delicate, and nice compositions - super shots Steve

I feel the white balance is off in these images or maybe that's how the colours are but without a white they appear off!

I like the juxtaposition of the softness of the flower against the spikes

Thanks folks. Appreciated.

Gareth - Very perceptive, white balance is off. I deliberately used a warm light source which is responsible for the overall yellowness. The pads of the cactus (at the root of the spines) are a sort of creamy white in natural light and the flowers a softer yellow. Here's the second picture quickly adjusted to give a rough visual match to the cactus that's currently by the side of the screen in natural light. Better or worse? Depends on the artist's intent .




Steve

Especially effective in the first image Steve - simultaneous tension and release. Soothingly dynamic. A real stunner. (And the yellow hue brings much gentleness to the image).