|
| Author | Thread |
|
|
09/01/2008 12:01:07 PM · #1 |
Hi, I started giving time to photography for about 2 months now. So i am very interested in knowing the mistakes i am doing ... can i please have them on this one .
 |
|
|
|
09/01/2008 01:02:54 PM · #2 |
On the plus side, a good, strong, dramatic sense of light and some pretty nice colors.
On the neutral side, competent but uninspired composition (something I'm guilty of a lot): there's nothing "wrong" with the strongly diagonal composition, and the blossom is off-center roughly according to the "rule of thirds", but the overall effect is one of pretty plain-jane, uninspired competence.
On the negative side, the stem/blossom are nowhere near crisp and sharp enough to please the voters on this site; we usually like our macros to be tack-sharp. The smoke itself needs to be lit/swirled/processed in such a way as to make it a more dynamic part of the composition, it's not really coming through here. And, finally, the dark areas are sort of blocked up, which isn't really helping.
Here's your image adjusted with shadow/highlight in CS3, plus a little vignetting to darken the corners. The vignetting would not have been legal in the basic editing challenge, but the rest would have been. I wouldn't say this was the "optimum" processing of this image, but just to show what happens if yoy enhance the smoke and the shadow areas; the composition gets more "interesting", basically.
R.
|
|
|
|
09/01/2008 01:03:16 PM · #3 |
Hi db, left this comment on your shot. :-)
"First off, I think the concept for this shot is pretty good, and the composition is great! You've kept the shot very simple and clean, and that is important. I like the idea of the lighting from below, and the lighting is ok, but could be better IMO. You see how the one large petal is quite dark, and kind of ends up as a dark blob? Possibly using a reflector (which could be as simple as a white piece of paper or poster board) above the flower could help here, to allow detail on the top to come through. Maybe even gently trying to push that petal down some, or if possible, being very picky about what specific flower you choose to shoot. Now, I think the biggest weakness here is the lack of sharpness. It doesn't appear that you were going for a 'soft' look, and I don't think soft would work well with this type of shot anyway. It's the super tack sharpness that helps make an image like this 'Pop', IMO. There are several factors that could be affecting this. For one, you can use a tripod (if you aren't) or even set your cam on a stool, or stack of books or something. I notice your aperture was f/22? This seems kind of small for this shot. A smaller aperture will give a greater dof, which for this shot, you probably don't need. This small of aperture also gave you a fairly long shutter speed (5) and the longer the shutter is open, all the more time for camera shake, wind or any kind of motion to add blur and/or throw focus slightly off. Perhaps you were going for a slower speed to get some 'silkyness' with the smoke, if so, all the more important to ensure absolute steadiness of camera and subject, and play with your light (strength, position, etc) to get a good balance of speed, aperture etc. Finally, although it won't 'save' a shot that is out of focus to begin with, sharpening in post processing can really help. Especially with dslr's, they tend to be a little on the soft side, to allow for the photog to sharpen to taste in post. If this is something new to you, there are tutorials in abundance (some on the site in the 'Learn' section) on sharpening. It will depend on what software you use, but 'smart sharpen', or 'Unsharp Mask' (USM) are the standard tools. Another nice touch to shots like this, (when everything is spot on) :-) , is to spray the flower down with some water mist before shooting.
This shot shows a good eye for concept, composition and subject. It is a good idea, and I really like the lighting from below and the added smoke. I even like the title. :-) It's the attention to the details that can make ok shots great." |
|
|
|
09/01/2008 01:53:38 PM · #4 |
brilliant ! this is why i love this site ... thanx bvy, bear and taterbug !
I dont use photoshop at all , maybe just for saving the image for web. So as i can see from this that common theory is i need sharpness. I will now read tutorials on how to photoshop to sharpness. Also please tell me what are before shoot (apperture setting , lighting etc) stuff which help in getting things sharp.
For the smoke part , i think i need a second light to bring out it's dynamics. |
|
|
|
Current Server Time: 04/19/2024 09:15:20 PM  |
Home -
Challenges -
Community -
League -
Photos -
Cameras -
Lenses -
Learn -
Prints! -
Help -
Terms of Use -
Privacy -
Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2024 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 04/19/2024 09:15:20 PM EDT.
|
