Finally . . . Spring has arrived!

[Kathy O]

It's taken it's time but spring has finally come, love the colors of this Iris.

[Donald]

... love the colors of this Iris.

So do I. And, yes, spring has finally arrived over here as well, about 6 weeks late.

[Kathy O]

So do I. And, yes, spring has finally arrived over here as well, about 6 weeks late.

Donald, here is a scary question . . . is it a good photo??? I like it but am always open to ways to improve.

[Mike Buckley]

Kathy,

What do you like the most and least about your photo? How is it the same or different from what you envisioned before you released the shutter? If we begin with your thoughts about that as a point of departure, I think you'll get more out of the thread. This photo is certainly good enough that it can be effectively used as a basis for that approach.

[Kathy O]

Kathy,

What do you like the most and least about your photo? How is it the same or different from what you envisioned before you released the shutter? If we begin with your thoughts about that as a point of departure, I think you'll get more out of the thread. This photo is certainly good enough that it can be effectively used as a basis for that approach.

Thanks Mike for the suggestion. What I like about my photo: I feel like when I look at the photo I could almost reach out and touch the flower, the photo puts me in the scene. (Hope that makes sense.)

[Mike Buckley]

Yes, that makes sense. Now, how about what you like the least about your photo? And how is it the same or different from what you envisioned before you released the shutter?

If you're thinking that I'm intentionally not making my comments until you provide yours in greater detail, you've got that right.

[Kathy O]

Yes, that makes sense. Now, how about what you like the least about your photo? And how is it the same or different from what you envisioned before you released the shutter?

If you're thinking that I'm intentionally not making my comments until you provide yours in greater detail, you've got that right.

That is where I struggle, I think it is a good photo but I know it probably can be improved and lot of the time I can't see it until someone points it out. So really I do not know how to answer that question. When I took this photo I was in the process of saying goodbye to my grand daughter, walked by my Iris, thought it was pretty and snapped the photo without giving much thought to it . . . so I guess I don't have a lot of information to give in that area either.

[Mike Buckley]

That also makes sense.

The stuff I like
The diffused light, the bright, natural, yet very rich appearance of the colors especially in the subject, and the darker foreground and background that frame the subject so nicely

The stuff I don't like
The brown (dying) leaves, the foreground and the relatively large amount of background at the top that don't add anything to the image, and the out-of-focus petals. For me, to get the feeling that I can feel and touch the flower, I want all of it in focus. (That could be just me, as is true for everything in this post.)

The stuff I would do to make it different
To get all of the petals in focus, you could have used a smaller aperture. You shot the photo using Aperture Priority at f/5.6 and 1/350 second. You were using a 50mm focal length on a D5100, so you could probably have handheld it easily at 1/90 second, which would have been the shutter speed if you had shot at f/11. That would have made more if not all of the petals in focus.

Better yet, you could have configured your camera to Auto ISO using ISO 3200 as the maximum ISO. (I don't have that model but Ken Rockwell says it performs very well at ISO 3200. I have a D5100 that I believe performs well at ISO 6400, so that makes sense to me.) You could have configured the minimum shutter speed to 1/100 or something close and left your camera's ISO setting at 100. If you had done that, you could have quickly used an aperture of f/16 to be relatively safe and just as quickly moved on to hug your granddaughter. Your camera would have automatically shot at 1/100 second and just a bit higher than ISO 400.

Regarding the brown leaves, one option was to simply change their color to green if you have that post-processing skill. Another option would have been to make a black or nearly black background throughout the entire background if you have that skill.

Regarding the space at the top, you could have cropped to make a square photo, which would have framed the flower nicely.

Even if you do nothing else than try the square crop, this is a very nice photo. So, don't get the idea that all the suggestions render it bad. It's not even close to bad.

Hope this helps!

[Kathy O]

That also makes sense.

The stuff I like
The diffused light, the bright, natural, yet very rich appearance of the colors especially in the subject, and the darker foreground and background that frame the subject so nicely

The stuff I don't like
The brown (dying) leaves, the foreground and the relatively large amount of background at the top that don't add anything to the image, and the out-of-focus petals. For me, to get the feeling that I can feel and touch the flower, I want all of it in focus. (That could be just me, as is true for everything in this post.)

The stuff I would do to make it different
To get all of the petals in focus, you could have used a smaller aperture. You shot the photo using Aperture Priority at f/5.6 and 1/350 second. You were using a 50mm focal length on a D5100, so you could probably have handheld it easily at 1/90 second, which would have been the shutter speed if you had shot at f/11. That would have made more if not all of the petals in focus.

Better yet, you could have configured your camera to Auto ISO using ISO 3200 as the maximum ISO. (I don't have that model but Ken Rockwell says it performs very well at ISO 3200. I have a D5100 that I believe performs well at ISO 6400, so that makes sense to me.) You could have configured the minimum shutter speed to 1/100 or something close and left your camera's ISO setting at 100. If you had done that, you could have quickly used an aperture of f/16 to be relatively safe and just as quickly moved on to hug your granddaughter. If you had done that, your camera would have automatically shot at 1/100 second and just a bit higher than ISO 400.

Regarding the brown leaves, one option was to simply change their color to green if you have that post-processing skill.

Regarding the space at the top, you could have cropped to make a square photo, which would have framed the flower nicely.

Even if you do nothing else than try the square crop, this is a very nice photo. So, don't get the idea that all the suggestions render it bad. It's not even close to bad.

Hope this helps!

I really appreciated all of the suggestions, you see . . next time I will take my time and use your suggestions and see what difference it makes. I do like my photo but I always want to see what I can do to make it better, so I thank you for your input it is very helpful.

Kathy

[Kathy O]

Mike,
Made a few adjustment per your suggestions, I cropped and got rid of the brown leaves.

[Mike Buckley]

If you get used to understanding the use of Auto ISO, your camera can always be prepared to take that quick shot along the way to kissing your granddaughter goodbye. Having said that, unless something else was pulling at you, you could have returned to the flower after sending off your granddaughter and you could have taken more time with it. Almost all photos taken quickly will be improved by taking more time, certainly at least in the preparation.

[Donald]

Made a few adjustment per your suggestions, I cropped and got rid of the brown leaves.

And that has made a very different and, in my opinion, much better image.

Mike's comments are comprehensive and excellent and will equip you for those moments when you do want to just snap a pic as you walk by. But of course, you're going to discipline yourself into not taking your pics that way ........... aren't you!?

[Mike Buckley]

Much, much nicer in mind, Kathy!

Do you like it better? Why and why not? Notice that I'm trying to get you to openly think about this stuff. The more we do that, the better we become at our craft.

[Kathy O]

Much, much nicer in mind, Kathy!

Do you like it better? Why and why not? Notice that I'm trying to get you to openly think about this stuff. The more we do that, the better we become at our craft.

I do like it better, at first I thought maybe you were being a little picky when you said you didn't like the brown leaves and thought they should be eliminated but I do respect photographers with a lot more experience and knowledge than myself and thought I should give it a try and you are right it did make a big difference. In the first photo the focus isn't entirely on the flower itself with the distraction of the leaves, when the leaves were taken out in the edited photo it brought the flower forward (along with the crop) and the flower now has the attention it deserves. Thanks for all of you advice and suggestions, very much appreciated.

Kathy

[Mike Buckley]

Keep using that critical thinking, Kathy. Doing that all of the time will advance your photography tremendously and will probably also enhance your enjoyment of the process, not just the results.

Regarding the idea that I and others might be too picky, it's always good to consider that possibility. However, don't forget to also consider that perhaps we're not being picky enough.