Wow, I just had to comment on this picture because it's so pretty. I love your angle and the closeness, and the awesome green bokeh in the background! Another reason I thought to comment was because my reaction to your two posts today was very divergent. It's surprising given how similar the images are, but for all the reasons above, and additionally the color, make this one so much more successful (IMHO). Somehow the color here (I think it's mostly due to the color, though the other aspects might be contributing) makes the flowers stand out against the background (even though the background is noticeable and very pretty). In the black and white image, the background seems distracting, perhaps because there's no color in the flowers to draw attention to them. But anyway, I really like this picture.

Gaja, thanks for your comment. Yes, I love the color and lighting in this one too! I was really happy with the way it came out because this was exactly what I was going for.

Actually, I had a lot of trouble in the b&w one trying to make the flowers stand out, and that conversion to b&w seemed to be the best I could do. In fact, the only reason I converted that one to b&w is because all the other ones I took today looked so great in color that I couldn't bring myself to make them b&w. At least with the one I did convert, I also got to post a color version of a similar shot!

Anyway, there are a couple of other differences between these two images: in this color photo, I used the super macro feature so I was able to get even shallower depth of field (thus better isolation and nicer bokeh) and the exposure is right. In contrast, the b&w only used the macro feature (so I couldn't get as close and the DOF is greater). Also, the image is actually a bit underexposed. I decided to work with it rather than the better exposed version because I thought the underexposure helped to blow out the background a bit. So I guess what you're seeing is better than what you're not seeing (versions I didn't post), but I agree with you that the flowers in the b&w photo are not as well isolated.

Anyway, it makes me happy that you noticed the same things about the photos that I did, and I'm especially glad you liked this color photo because I really did too!

This sort of picture leaves me feeling very cheerful because it's a sure sign of Spring. Not that this winter has been bad, but I do like Spring and Summer very much! Apologies for my relative silence; a new job and cold in general tend to keep me quiet :)