Project 52 - 1st Quarter by Geoff F

I have never been satisfied with my flower pictures, and often with others', and these first two images perhaps demonstrate my problem.

The first one looks nice and colourful but a bit soft. The second looks sharp but shows some less pretty texture on the petals. Is it the case that a macro picture of a flower which is properly in focus must show an undesirable texture like a face that needs makeup?

I don't mean to be critical here and I think these are all good images. I am trying to work out how I can do better with my pictures.

Very good Geoff and useful for later in the late Spring onwards. At the moment, everything is either frozen or dry around this area, apart from my animals. :p I will keep this post so I will remember...thanks.

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Originally Posted by TonyW

I have never been satisfied with my flower pictures, and often with others', and these first two images perhaps demonstrate my problem.

The first one looks nice and colourful but a bit soft. The second looks sharp but shows some less pretty texture on the petals. Is it the case that a macro picture of a flower which is properly in focus must show an undesirable texture like a face that needs makeup?

I don't mean to be critical here and I think these are all good images. I am trying to work out how I can do better with my pictures.

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This cropped up in an orchid thread. The only answer is to move back and include more in the frame which is often a difficult thing to do. Orchid's are particularly bad in this respect as much of the colouration is made up of dots so shots have to be taken from a distance where they can't be seen in the final image. Since that experience I sometimes study a flower with a magnifying glass before taking a shot. Currently I only shoot indoors or in the garden. Some defeat me completely. Violets spring to mind - an intense dark violet blue with a yellow centre. Both the flowers and leaves have a flat colouration. I recently tried some carnations. Usually fairly easy but not these. They have a sort purplish pink colouration and far more petals than usual and don't photograph well at all at any distance. It's not just detail that can cause problems, colour can too.

I'm getting the general impression that under exposure is often a good option as it gives more control of the final colour and can help avoid the dreaded yellow problems when surrounding colours are different. It also helps with things like buttercups.

John
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Yes, harsh lighting often causes problems with flowers. Using diffused light, such as a lightly overcast day can be beneficial providing you can avoid any difficulties caused by slow shutter speed, wide aperture or high iso. Creating some slight shade can be helpful. Producing a merge of different exposures (HDR or similar) can also work well providing you don't have any wind movement issues.

Always do a custom white balance before shooting and shoot in Raw which makes colour correction a lot easier. But some colours like dark reds or purples are always difficult to get looking good.

Irises are notably difficult. Sometimes I take a flower indoors and place beside my monitor for a guide; but as soon as they come indoors, under different lighting, they 'change colour'! :eek:

I'm also still experimenting with different plant support ideas; so more on this later.

ps. the image made up from dots scenario is something which I get with macro photos of moths where large individual scales produce a mosaic effect.

Firstly, another overview of the location.

http://i62.tinypic.com/2ijrg1x.jpg

Tried some more seedheads but I was having a background problem where the background was becoming confusing and bright areas were overwhelming the intended subject which had subdued brightness and colour.

So I've tried to get the best of both options by exposing for the background but adding some fill flash to lighten the intended subject.

Metered, and took some test shots using Av mode until I was happy with the background then adjusted the camera with those settings in manual mode. Then varied the flash output compensation until the foreground looked correct.

An umbellifer seedhead shot while having the ground as a backdrop.

http://i59.tinypic.com/o05d08.jpg

Then had a go at getting more ambitious with another angle which had some sky for a background.

http://i57.tinypic.com/2ducjmv.jpg

And a similar example but with a group of seedheads.

http://i58.tinypic.com/ab3682.jpg

And finally, the same idea but with a burdock seedhead.

http://i62.tinypic.com/2ex38yx.jpg

All shot with a 7D and Tamron 24-70 lens.

Hi Geoff, I like the simplicity and shooting angle of these shots and the colour pallet works very well. I particularly like the last one!

I like the second one after the overview...the separation is unique there and there are no other weeds to push for attention. Now that is a minimalist shot...

I find it is usually necessary to clean up the background before shooting and remove anything which would be excessively distracting. It can take a couple of minutes but is easier than attempting to clone out during editing; particularly when the distraction is immediately behind the main subject.

Finding some suitable camera angles for shots of dead weeds was a bit of a challenge, so thanks for the positive comments.

Nice series (post #25), a lot of good subjects captured.

These are good but I would like to see more of a macro shot of the seed heads in addition to these.

"Lost world" is a nicely composed and process photo Geoff and a I really like the umbellifer seedhead shot with the ground as a backdrop. I always find it hard to find a compelling angle in close ups of nature so I will enjoy watching your journey in this regard unfold.

I love your 4th image - I have tried this type of shot many times and still not succeeded. Enjoy the challenge, I shall enjoy seeing the results

Hello Geoff- I like the frosty leaves best, but the funghi have the most marvellous colours, shades and tones. Look forward to your 2015 journey. C.

A beautiful set with # 4,5 being my favorite. When I look at the
"lost world", enchanted forest comes to mind.

Irene

Thanks for all the positive comments. I'm still attempting to keep myself a week ahead but that will probably slip back as soon as we get a couple of weeks bad weather.

The catkins are just starting to form. I will probably return to this theme in few weeks time.

http://i57.tinypic.com/bhifn.jpg

Tried several angles and lenses but it was so difficult to get a clean background which didn't overwhelm the subject.

Most fungi have disappeared by now but there are a few specialists which appear later and can cope with a little bit of frost.

Flammulina velutipes

http://i57.tinypic.com/k3psnq.jpg

Yellow Brain Fungus - Tremella mesenterica

http://i59.tinypic.com/295tzxw.jpg

With both of these, sunshine was causing problems by producing over exposed 'hot spots' so once manually focused (using aperture priority) I had to place myself as a sunshield and shoot via a cable.

I have now purchased a Lastolite Difflector and manufactured (lashed together) a system of attaching it to a small lightweight tripod.

More on this experiment later.

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Originally Posted by Geoff F

Thanks for all the positive comments. I'm still attempting to keep myself a week ahead but that will probably slip back as soon as we get a couple of weeks bad weather.

The catkins are just starting to form. I will probably return to this theme in few weeks time.

http://i57.tinypic.com/bhifn.jpg

Tried several angles and lenses but it was so difficult to get a clean background which didn't overwhelm the subject.

Most fungi have disappeared by now but there are a few specialists which appear later and can cope with a little bit of frost.

Flammulina velutipes

http://i57.tinypic.com/k3psnq.jpg

Yellow Brain Fungus - Tremella mesenterica

http://i59.tinypic.com/295tzxw.jpg

With both of these, sunshine was causing problems by producing over exposed 'hot spots' so once manually focused (using aperture priority) I had to place myself as a sunshield and shoot via a cable.

I have now purchased a Lastolite Difflector and manufactured (lashed together) a system of attaching it to a small lightweight tripod.

More on this experiment later.

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Were you using a high ISO in the first shot? I've seen the same level of noise in similar lighting conditions.

Classic images; very well done :)

I particularly like the fungi, lovely colour and your focus is spot on. The catkins seem a bit lost out there on their limb I feel and look forward to seeing more as promised.

John, I think the noise has increased a little during resizing and uploading as a Jpeg although there is some sky noise in the original Raw file. Which I did reduce during Raw conversion.

Shot with 7D and Sigma 180 macro lens. This is a merge of two shots with different focus points. 1/320 F11 Iso 400. The sun was mostly behind me.

Probably just one of those things which occasionally happens with blue skies at certain angles. I was getting a bit of difficulty with some angles causing a form of colour fringing around the twig. Similar to what can occur with Jpeg at higher compression settings or excessive sharpening.

Here is another catkin shot at a slightly different spot and another lens (Tamron 24-70) plus flash because it was a darkish light. Also a merge of two focus points.

http://i58.tinypic.com/nzjdcj.jpg

Nice shot. Always difficult to get a good clean bg with these catkins. The bg adds interest IMO.

The little flowers will appear in a few weeks time I guess.