Wildflower Workshop photos

[terrib]

I attended a workshop yesterday morning on taking wildflower photos. Here are 3 of the photos that I took and I would like to get your feedback. These were all handheld as I didn't have a tripod that would get low enough. They were also all shot in aperture priority.

50mm, ISO400, F11, 1/200 Originally shot in landscape with a lot of log on either side. Cropped to remove background above the log.


50mm with macro extension tube, ISO800, F8, 1/250 against white foam board, +1ev


50mm with macro extension tube, ISO200, F5.6, 1/125


Thanks for taking the time to view and comment!

[Muriel]

Beautiful! I think my favorite is no 1 however I like all three. Must have been a fun class.

[teokf]

Like the pixs, like Muriel, my fav is the first one

[Geoff F]

You have plenty of focus depth with the first shot, Terri. The Exif actually says F11.

I think I may have tried for a fraction more space at the sides but you may have been constrained by other factors which we can't see. Possibly even try a square crop to reduce too much increase in height.

The only problem which I can see is the vertical thin stalk which is dead at the top. If I had seen this before shooting I would have snipped it away. But with real wild shooting there are often quite a few 'If only' afterthoughts.

The last one was shot at F5.6 which has rather limited the sharp focus area and has reduced the impact for me.

[Bobobird]

All very nice shots.

#3 is a particularly hard shot to get right.

[DanK]

All very nice. I think #2 is really beautiful--the framing is just right, and the simplicity is striking. What did you use for the background? I'd be tempted to put that one up on the wall.

I'm less enthusiastic than the others about #1. I find the dark knot at the top left to be distracting. It draws the eye away from the flowers (my eye, at least). I like #3, but I agree with Geoff that more DOF would have been an improvement.

[rtbaum]

Good Job!

[terrib]

Thank you everyone for your comments.

Following Geoff's advice, here is another crop of the first photo. It is also my favorite of the 3. Is this crop better?

Dan, the background on the second one was just a white foam board.

Several of you commented on wanting more DOF on the third one. I'm thinking I should have at least taken it a little past the yellow in the middle flower. Would you have gone even further? What I liked about that one was the different perspectives on the flowers but I agree that it needs more DOF. Thanks for your help!

[Geoff F]

That adds a nice bit of firm texture to the background now, Terri, and contrasts well with the delicateness of the flowers.

With the third one, I find that I prefer the foreground images to be sharp, or totally blurred; so I wouldn't change the focus point.

Maybe a totally different angle would have been the best option. Sometimes, I find that I have to remove (cut or bend) some flowers/leaves to obtain the optimum composition.