[Zig]

I'll try the first lot here and see what happens.
I'm grateful to Irma in inadvertently getting me on the poppy track; I was reminded that some new approaches might be called for.
I felt drawn to the textural possibilities of different lenses and viewpoints.
If there's any interest in the way I did 'em, I'll of course provide details...and maybe run the second lot on a different space.
Anyway, I took these yesterday...around midday, really trying to circumvent all the rules to see what would happen: I even shot a few at ISO 1600 at f45(yes, forty-five) to really explore this fully.
These following, however, are at lower ISOs: The last one isn't a border, it's the hedgerow I was peering through!

[nia]

WOW! So beautiful... Fascinated me! You did great dear Zig,

Thank you,
with my love,
nia

[Wedding Shooter]

I like them all Zig - very nice use of composition and processing.

[Toad]

Well these pictures make me even less willing to show my own...first Irma and now these. All different - all wonderful. Its a delight to see so many different treatments of the same basic subject matter from both Irma and you. It would be impossible for me to pick a favorite here - so in general terms, I can only say Bravo!.

[Irma]

I like your compositions in all your pictures, you did very well. I like some treatments more than others, but on the other hand is really nice to see the same landscape in different color treatments.
#1 is one I like very much. The lines look so gentle... and the fields are great!! So large and with so many flowers... The stone wall works great because of the color and different texture.
#3 is another beauty, you know how much I love this kind of pictures... Lovely detail in the foreground and sweet pattern in the background... I like very much the wide view of the field...
I like as well very much the way you composed your picture with those curves in the field. The red spots look so vivid in this treatment...

Thanks a lot for sharing your pictures all have something to admire...

[Toad]

I think I am going to go out on a limb here, and pick a couple of favorites: #1 and #2. #1 for all the reasons that Irma has mentioned and #2 because it has all of the processing that I admire so much in #4 - but also has the added interest of the bicycle. Unless I am very much mistaken, you have used the same selective focus techniques that you demonstrated the other day in one of your other threads...

[Zig]

Sorry Toad, I have to confess you are indeed mistaken...I wasn't that on top of things unfortunately with the bike shot(#2):
The shot was a pure grab shot...and what happened was this:
1. I was unaware till 2 seconds before the shot that there was a cyclist there, as I was looking at the field textures at 280mm at the time;
2. When I saw the cyclist in my peripheral vision(not through the lens) I saw there would be only one spot in which the cyclist would make the composition...and I had no time to faff about changing anything;
3. I was already at f8, at ISO 100...no time to flip ISO settings or roll the aperture wheel...(cue the music )...
4.I prefocused quickly on where the cylict would be in about a second's time, knowing the Image Stabilisation. would still cycle for another second or so....
5. I just had time to pan the camera an inch or so right...and though it was barely stable still went CLICK...
6. Thus the shot has a very slight camera shake...as it should do: checking the shutter speed after, I found that it was a mere 1/30s!
As the focal length of the zoom was 176mm, I should have used at least the reciprocal of this, or, 1/200s. Had I done this, I'd have lost the shot. The shot is as much a testament to I.S. as it is to any "skill" of mine.
If it were printed to, say, 10 inches or so, it'd show itself to be blurred...
...As it is, at web size, I can happily get away with the idea of it being, er, "textured", particularly given that an aperture of f8 still allows some natural shallowness of depth of field.
Finally, by doing a pass with Smart Sharpen in CS2 rather than unsharp masking or a generic sharpener, its "automatically slelective" nature maybe squeezed a bit more polarity into the proceedings!


PS : Just realised I've not totally engaged with your point there Rob, sorry, as yes I was focus/recomposing, wasn't I but anyway some background info!

[Toad]

Imagine my being mistaken about something? Wow - put this day on the calendar...