My first venture into the Critique Corner

[jbridgman]

Pinecone, up close and personal:

http://www.fotop.net/albums/electech98/electech9802/IMG_1249.jpg

Jeremy B.

[Kell]

jbridgman,

It seems to me that the shot is too blurred - only a very small portion of it is sharp, and that's in the center - the focus seems to be too deep into the pinecone. I suspect that if the parts closer to the near plane were sharp it'd come out as a totally different shot. Also, the white background adds a bit too much light to the picture, so maybe shooting at a lower sensitivity would have helped? Or try it with natural sunlight, to get the light effects?
If you do try to repeat the shot, let us know.

Just my 2 cents

[gsmx2]

Up close, personal, and hand held with a wide apeture I feel. Too much is out of focus for my taste.

gsm x2

[ijohnson]

I like it.

Even though it is a little out of focus and the depth of field isn't enough to capture the whole photo, it is entirely different than what I would expect from a shot like this.

What could be perceived as mistakes give the photo an abstract, 3-dimensional feel.

I like it, wouldn't buy it, but I'll remember it.

[Skyline]

when im looking carefully at the photo, im trying to find a "spot" where i can see it clearly. I would try to focus more on the edge of these little things (sorry dont know how to call it im french). Like that maybe it would create some sort of design

[jbridgman]

With this shot, the lighting is indeed natural (it is indoors actually), The camera was on a tripod (contrary to what one of the responses said), and I used the Powershot G3 "extreme macro trick" to get this close to the pinecone. I didn't use macro lenses, because I would not have been able to get as close. As such, there is a very narrow depth of field that cannot be avoided, and I thought that the area that was more in-focus suited the picture more than if I have the edges of the pinecone more in-focus, which would thus render most of the innards (and thus, more of the picture) out-of-focus.

[jbridgman]

Forgot the mention, ISO was at 50 on that shot, so sensitivity was not a problem (as another person suggested).

[Flyguybones]

Great use of depth of field. I hope that you stick to macro...it will be rewarding for you in the end....you should start a web site and make those images into desktop walpapers and charge for them. peope will buy!Good Job!

[jbridgman]

Hey thanks, Flyguybones! I appreciate your compliment. :D

Now if I could only find more time to take pictures, what with a baby and all...

[Flyguybones]

I totally understand! But if it is your true passion you will find time for it...
= ) sometimes it seems hard to get things going when something else starts going on too...but everything evens out.....maybe you could think about compositions with your child ? i dunno....just trust your feelings...and do what you do..

[jbridgman]

Trust me, I've probably already taken about 300 shots of my child...I just need to go through them and do some cropping to get a really good composition. It is hard to shoot babies without a flash...the darn things don't hold still! :D