My 1st submission

[gazzman]

Just hope I get the uploading right!
I welcome any comments - thank you!

[gazzman]

[speedneeder]

Pretty flowers!
For me the focus is off in the first pic. Seems dead on the leaves behind the flowers?

[gazzman]

Think I see what you mean. It's great that others see things that the photographer doesn't!
Thanks

[Geoff F]

I don't think you could have done anything about that Garry; depending on your aperture.

The left flower is sharp but the right one is a little closer to the camera which makes it fractionally soft. Possibly a different camera angle would have allowed you to get square with both flowers.

[Colin Southern]

Hi Garry,

Welcome to CiC

From a technical perspective, I can see a couple of issues ...

1. The 2nd image is what we term "flat". This occurs when the image doesn't use the full tonal range available; in this case the image doesn't have any true blacks (unlike the first image) - so needs to have the black clipping point raised in post-processing.

2. Both images have focus and/or sharpening issues. For close up photography like this you need to tell the camera which auto-focus point to use, and normally shoot at a fairly narrow aperture (eg F11 or F16), which means you'll probably want to use a tripod because the shutterspeed will be low.

Correct sharpening can compensate (to a degree) for poor focus, so thought I'd give it a go on your image (hope you don't mind). Unfortunately, it was a bit too far gone to work, but as I grossly over-sharpened the image, I did end up with an interesting looking effect that has a little "artistic merit"!



Just to give you an idea of what I'm meaning, here's a shot I took a year or two ago, that has correct use of tonal range, and correct sharpening ...

[gazzman]

Thanks Colin - I do apreciate any and all comments (told you I was new! lol)
But your pic is a little artistic too.
To tell the truth, even me being an amateur, I have tried for years to get some good shots - but I was away in the navy for years so didn't spend as much time as I would have liked to - then on leaving the navy (was it really 14 years ago...) the camera world had developed so much I couldn't afford the best equipment, or any of the pro courses, so only relied on my gut instinct.
Up until about 6 months ago - I was using a Canon 1000F SLR, but it was just gathering dust. Then (6 months ago) I finally could justify buying a 2nd hand Canon 300D (yes I know it's old) but that's why I joined this forum - to learn from guys like you and hopfully, maybe, one day produce a good shot.
Since getting this 'new' camera - it is so much easier than having to take the shots and wait for processing, but I am still trying to get my head around things like F stops, apature, ISO, etc.
And again, that is why I joined here - so you guys can point me in the right direction.
I really do appreciate the comments.
Thank you - everyone!

[Colin Southern]

Hi Garry,

You're welcome.

I guess that there are many ways to learn photography - but regardless it always seems to come down to shooting - evaluating the results (privately or publically) - seeking "wise council" on areas that need attention - then shooting again; rinse and repeat. That's certainly the path I took, and I suspect many others.

In most cases we can get most people making quantum leaps in their results quite easily - we're always here to help.

So go shoot something, and lets see the results

[gazzman]

Thank you.

[gazzman]

oh - by the way - I just created my first album - I put some pics of my living room fire.

I know that's not really exciting - but I was tring different adjustments with my new DSLR.
If anyone could look and comment - that would be appresiacte too.
Thank you.