Spring Season Macros

The sunflower is the essence of spring. The way the dark disk flowers are positioned in the lower right corner and the ray flowers take the dominant place in the center and left of the image set it into my top ten. Also, the brilliant background works surprisingly well. I would have tried green, but this unique dichromatic background works even better than a complementary color. Keep up the good work!

I love bees and I can only imagine the pain this took to get. I have been shooting bees for years now and this is a nice shot! In my opinion, it could use a faster shutter speed to freeze the bee a little more. Keep up the good work!

Love the backlit view! I love experimenting with early morning light and external flashes to see how extreme I can get with my backlit perspective. I get weird sometimes, but something good always comes out of it. Keep up the good work!

Ahh, it's an African Bleeding Heart, or Lamprocapnos spectabilis. I got a bush blooming in my front yard. When I shoot my bush, I try to use either early morning light or an external flash (a flashlight works just as well though!) to give interest and uniqueness. Try that with your bush if it's still blooming and you will be amazed at yourself.

It's a fiddlehead! Funny name, but that's what it's called! I have yet to see one, but this shot does it justice. If I was to shoot one of these, I would off-center the fiddlehead to create more interest and appeal. Good work and keep it up!

I reviewed dozens of incredible dandelion seed photographs, but this unique perspective and bright color made this one of the best I came across. The dashing red color and the placement of the subject give this a well deserved third place.

What a perspective. The bright white seed heads set on the blue background make this a deserving top ten. If I was to try this set up, I would use a smaller aperture to get more of the seed heads in focus. Nice work, I look forward to seeing more of it soon!

Ahh, water droplets. So fascinating and complicated. Also, they are so hard! Placement, focus, reflection, and lighting make them something I have to capture perfectly. However, this shot nails everything, the off balance placement, the unique reflection, the soft lighting, and tack sharp focus made it easy for me to choose it as a top ten.

This shot really stood out to me because of its bright colors, interesting composition, and sharp focus. The blurred background also draws my eye to the bee, making it that much better. This Apis mellifera is obviously enjoying its meal as much as I enjoy this shot.

The reverse side of a sunflower, as demonstrated here, can be just as interesting as the front side. The water droplets on the petals, the hairs on the sepals, and the dark background are what made this shot so attractive to me. Well deserved top ten.

Wow. This is absolutely incredible. I especially love the way I was drawn into this by the story this shot tells, one of the hunted and the hunter. The complementary red and green, the tack sharp focus, the perfect placement, and the background all add together to give this second place.

This is such a striking image. The dark background and the bright white seed tuft is so attractive. What a perfect way to create Spring in an image. It is the best image I reviewed and thus very deserving of first place, in my opinion.