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09/01/2008 02:24:42 PM |
Just to add to taterbug's comment: f/22 gives a lot of DOF but not sharpness. Your best sharpness comes about 2 stops from full. (Like about f/5 ish for this particular lens). There is an old saying "f/8 and be there" for photojournalism. The reason for f/8 is it is generally your sharpest aperture for most lenses.
You can use this site to calculate depth of field. For this particular shot you don't need a whole bunch of depth since you are only interesting in keeping the flower and the stem in focus. At five feet away with this lens, f/22 gives you 2.71 feet of good focus. f/5 gives you about 0.57 feet. (Just over six inches).
Hopefully this all makes sense...
I'd also second tater's comment about using a reflector on the one dark petal. |
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 Photographer found comment helpful. |
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09/01/2008 12:59:10 PM |
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. |
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09/01/2008 12:05:52 PM |
Originally posted by JDubsgirl:
why didn't this do better? i dont understand |
5.6+ isn't bad. As others have said, it lacks sharpness, and flowers are pretty abundant around DPC, so the competition is fierce.
Compositionally, I think this is perfect. The lighting, colors and even the backdrop are all very good. Keep it up!
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08/27/2008 12:33:31 AM |
| why didn't this do better? i dont understand |
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| Photographer found comment helpful. |
Comments Made During the Challenge  |
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08/26/2008 11:47:33 PM |
| I'd like the flower more centred but this is very pretty. |
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08/26/2008 10:18:54 PM |
| Beautiful lighting! I love it. |
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08/24/2008 06:52:57 PM |
| this is a very intersting photo, i like the colors, lighting, and comp:) thats cool-8 |
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08/24/2008 02:19:08 AM |
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08/21/2008 11:57:00 PM |
| Nice lighting from below, great detail. Picky, but one of the petals gets lost in the lighting. i like it! |
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08/21/2008 03:02:16 PM |
| This looks good. theres a load of flower shots in this challenge but this is one of the more interesting ones. |
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08/21/2008 02:31:28 PM |
| Good lighting & composition. But lacks sharpness, which is very important for a flower close-up IMHO. |
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08/20/2008 02:59:32 AM |
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08/20/2008 01:39:42 AM |
| lovely, love the haze in the bg...lighting is great |
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