Found My Niche

When clambering down some slickrock to see if we could find an arch (we did!) we came across this little Scarlet Gilia. A lot of things went right for it to find a little good soil, and it was not going to let them go to waste.
The image had a lot of orange slickrock that seemed to distract from my portrait of this little hero, so I bleached a lot of it out.
2012 with my old D Rebel, so details are not the best.

What technical feedback would you like if any?

Does sharpening seem appropriately done?

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Does the brightness of non-subject areas work for you?

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

(If the background has been replaced, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)

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What a cool plant! So interesting that it is blooming in such harsh conditions. I really like how you placed it within the environment, with those dead branches and rocks.

For me, though, the light vignette isn’t working because it looks contrived, and bleaching it out didn’t help showcase the flower so much because the flowers are mostly over the rocky parts of the scene. Perhaps dodging the dark bits in the rocks, to make them less prominent, and desaturating the background altogether would make the flower more prominent. And maybe not sharpening the rocks at all. Still, an amazing find on your search for an arch.

A wonderful flower, Dick, and I do like the inclusion of the habitat. I agree with Bonnie that the flowers lying over the rock field is a problem. The bleaching doesn’t bother me. To me, this image looks like you were trying to create two images at once. One with the cool wood and rock field as the subject and a second with the Gilia as the subject and they’re a bit in conflict with one another. For the plant as a subject, I think a bit lower angle and less depth of field so the eye pretty much stops at the flower but there’s still a sense of the habitat would work better.

Dick, this is a neat find. I’m enjoying the contrast between the lone plant and the sticks and stones. The flowers stand out well as the buds blend more into the surroundings. I’d suggest reducing the dodging around the edges, but like the mild S curve of the sticks and stones and how you’re showing the plant and it’s environment.

Excellent photo of splendid flowers Dick. My eyes have a wish: to see the flowers more distant from the rest of the image. They suggest to soften, low the saturation and darken the photo while lighten, saturate and sharpen the flowers. I hope that my eyes can help a bit.