Cactus flower close-ups

Although these were taken a few years ago, I am having a tidy-up of my archives and decided to put these images in the Nearscapes Gallery. I must admit that I am having trouble naming them. Can anyone help?
The 'studio' set up for these, was the top of a freezer by some windows with a black card propped against a wall to provide the background. Some kitchen foil glued to a piece of cardboard was used as a reflector. For some of the photos the sun was shining on the flowers, for others they were out of the sun. It was later that I upgraded the close-up studio to a cardboard box!
The photo below I entered into a competition at the time - it cost money to enter as well - but it did not come anywhere. I would not have minded if the winner was a decent photograph, but it was an ordinary landscape that I felt was off topic for a gardening competition... What I really like about this image is the way the centre of the flower glows - this was entirely accidental and was just a feature of the way the light fell on the subject.

The third photo appeals to me for although it breaks many 'rules', in my opinion it works. What do you think?

Labels: cactus, photographs







