Hi,

My favourite has to be number 1. There's a serene and almost silky feel to the surface of the water, sand and sky. very calming and the muted colours work really well. I can't help but feel it's no quite straight though.

In the second one, the woman on the beach looks a little awkward to me, and detracts my attention from the rest of the shot.

The third one has a great sky, but the expanse of water doesn't do anything for me.

I love the fiery sky in the last shot, was it really that bright? Amazing! Again, I don't think the horizon is level in this one, and the boat kind of merges into the trees on the horizon, but the colours are great!

Hope you don't mind my comments,

Fiona

Thank you Amin for your kind words, I am still waiting to hear back on my photos, but then I guess they get hundreds of emails a day! I have been to our town market today and picked up some beautiful Gerberas (my favourite flower), and also gone round to the art shop for some background card. Have been snapping away happily for about half an hour and I thought I'd post my first efforts here.

They are all straight out of the camera with no PP:

1.



2.



3.



4.



5.



6.



As you can see, I'm not a big fan of using black backgrounds! I think that gerberas are happy, sunny flowers, so I think they deserved a colourful background too! What do you think of my first efforts? I'll be back to shooting again as soon as the sun comes back out!

Fiona

Thanks guys! I'm just on my way out to the florist and art shop (yes, I know it was a rather long lie in this morning - but I always get better light in the kitchen in the afternoon anyway!) I like the idea of shooting the flower, printing, misting and using as a backdrop so might give that a try. Watch this space, results coming later!

Ok, a change of plan for tomorrow then! Will visit my florist (well the one that did my wedding flowers) for some choice blooms and florist wire, then I'll trot round the corner to the art shop to get some neutral card for backgrounds. I'll then set myself up on the kitchen worktop and experiment, posting any good ones on here.

I just want to thank everyone for their comments and words of encouragement and advice. I'm always guilty of jumping into a project or idea without giving it thought or much research, and you guys have made me stop, think and plan. Hopefully that'll mean better results, and you'll see them here first!

Thanks again.

Fiona

Thanks for your comment Richard.

I've decided to venture out ot my local garden centre tomorrow, armed with a tripod (should be interesting!) Do you think I should ask permission to shoot or just start and see if anyone approaches me? The garden centre in question also has an upmarket gift shop, and I was thinking if the photos are good enough to reproduce on canvas etc. that maybe I will ask if I can sell my prints through their gift shop, mentioning they would be supporting a local artist etc. etc.

Will post the best from the shoot - if I don't get stopped by the Wyevale police!

What do people think of that idea?

Fiona

He's at the Craft Show at Hyde End just down the road from me at the beginning of October, so I might go and meet him and see his work "in the flesh".

I'm having so many ideas and thoughts about this, I'm struggling to write them all down - thanks everyone for all the helpful info!

Fiona

Hi polchraine,

Thanks for your honesty, and the link... it's given me absolutely loads to think about and makes an amazing read as well as the images being fantastic. It's something to aspire to!

Fiona

Thank you for the tips Ken. I'll definitely try out the florist's wire trick.

Fiona

Well, that's why I was surprised that the first two tips from the professional weren't "get the person's head in the shot" and "oh, don't put your finger over the lens"! Somehow I don't think I'll be learning much from this series!

Very sneaky Tim! But I like the idea! Will have to give that a go. I've often thought about it but never had the nerve to just start taking photos at a garden centre. But why not? I guess it's not hurting anyone!