Whispered Drops of Morning Dew
by geekssweet

Comment by skewsme:
This is a beautiful, natural, subtle shot. I like the lighting. The texture and pastels of it remind me of a young girl's Spring dress. Sure, you could run it through noise reduction once or twice to smooth the grain, but I think it would be wacky to up the contrast, sat and sharpness to dpc standards. That's not what this picture is about.

Whispered Drops of Morning Dew
by geekssweet

Comment by Loki:
I love the waterdrops, but I wish there was more contrast in the picture.

Whispered Drops of Morning Dew
by geekssweet

Comment by sherpet:
The water droplets add a nice effect to the flower...

Whispered Drops of Morning Dew
by geekssweet

Comment by posthumous:
you whispered a flower
I put it on my ear. 6

Pink Moon
by geekssweet

Comment by levyj413:
Here's an example that might benefit from more "negative space." That means not cropping so tightly. Look at some of the results of the negative space challenges for some ideas. Here's one example:


Your image doesn't have the same vibrant background, but do you see how the large space away from the subject gives some interest?

The other main issue here is focus. You want the marble to be sharp and the background to be soft.

You also want to avoid the harsh "spotlight" effect of the lamp. My first entry suffered from the same problem.

Search Google for "light tent" to learn some things about lighting. I've been experimenting with many ways to diffuse lights, like pillowcases, tissue paper, and even my hands.

Putting the light to the side will not only hide its reflection but also create some drama with shadows. Long shadows coming out the side are more interesting than short ones directly behind. They also look deliberate.

Lit Stained Glass in Gold
by geekssweet

Comment by levyj413:
I gave this a 6. I like the varied tones, and I like the red dot off-centered.

Lines to Heaven
by geekssweet

Comment by levyj413:
This is nice composition, but it suffers from a lack of contrast. It's also pretty dark overall. Check out my contrast discussion on Subtle Beauty at Rest.

Subtle Beauty at rest
by geekssweet

Comment by levyj413:
I would've voted this a 4. Now as to why ...

The butterfly isn't too sharp. That'll almost always knock a point of of my vote. Were you using your camera's macro mode? If it has one, that will let you get much closer to things and still get sharp photos.

The composition is very centered. When you're zoomed in on something, that can work well, but this isn't. It's usually more interesting to have the subject off-center. Look up "rule of thirds" on Google for ample references. It's not a 100% thing, but it's a good place to start.

Also, with closeups, you're often better off filling as much of the frame as possible with the subject.

The multiple grass blades distract from the butterfly. You've got a natural frame around it, but the stuff outside that just carries my eye away.

Combining cropping tighter, using the natural frames of the blades, and moving at least the body off-center, here's an alternative:


The next issue is contrast. Often images right out of the camera are low in contrast, so the colors are kind of dull. It looks like there's a layer of gray over the whole thing. That's not your fault; it's related to how digital cameras work. Even with a minimum of post-processing knowledge, though, you can make some improvements. Here's what I got simply by playing around with the brightness and contrast sliders. You usually need to reduce brightness and you increase contrast to keep the whites from being "blown out" meaning they lose all detail.


See how that makes the butterfly stand out against the background?

I'm starting with the low-resolution image, so these aren't fantastic, and I'm not saying that my alternatives are going to win ribbons. But I hope they give you some ideas. Cropping for composition and enhancing contrast are steps I take on almost every image.

You can also search Google for "photoshop curves" and "photoshop levels" to find good tutorials on those. They're better tools than the contrast slider.

I hope this is helpful!

Bits and Pieces of a Dying Flower
by geekssweet

Comment by Lactobeezor:
Confusing picture with no focal point.

Bits and Pieces of a Dying Flower
by geekssweet

Comment by quiche:
Needs better composition, better lighting, better focus.