Purple Flower Macro

[Sailor Don]

I took a macro photo of this wildflower while hiking in Lost Maples State Recreation Area near Vanderpool, TX.

http://users3.ev1.net/~sailord/PurpleFlower.jpg

Actual Size Image - detail from center of same jpeg file.

http://users3.ev1.net/~sailord/PurpleFlowerDetail.jpg

Camera Model Name
Canon PowerShot Pro1
Shooting Date/Time
9/2/2004 11:10:53 AM
Shooting Mode
Aperture-Priority AE
Photo Effect Mode
Vivid
Tv( Shutter Speed )
1/160
Av( Aperture Value )
7.1
Metering Mode
Center-weighted averaging
Exposure Compensation
-2/3
ISO Speed
100
Lens
7.2 - 50.8mm
Focal Length
11.0mm
Digital Zoom
None
Image Size
3264x2448
Image Quality
Fine
Flash
Off
White Balance
Auto
AF Mode
Single AF
AF Range Mode
Macro
Color Space
sRGB
File Size
2081KB
Drive Mode
Single-frame shooting
Owner's Name
Sailor Don

[roanjohn]

I would probably like to see a shallower DOF. The sharp background is a bit distracting.

Try zooming out your lens all the way and opening up your aperture to a smaller number.

Ro1

[Leighow]

I love this flower ... its BIG like TEXAS
I'd crop, rotate, burn the edges, blurr the leaves,
and steal a few lines from a poem ...

http://members.rogers.com/hleigh/SAILOR.jpg

[Sailor Don]

Howie,

Yours is a nice presentation of the Texas wildflower, but it isn't a big flower.

I think I mentioned this is a macro photo. The lens was less than 1 foot from the flower, which is less than 1 inch in size. There is nothing Texas sized about that flower.

Lack of sharpness caused by shallow DOF is a technical issue. The human eye adjusts focus so fast that the subject scene, from foreground to background, would always appear to be in focus. So if one is attempting to capture the perceived image on film (or in this case, digital image), the sharper image comes to mind. Sometimes backgrounds are excessively distracting, so then as an artistic measure, photographers tend to use shallower DOF to take the detail out of the background. In this case, I preferred to keep the entire plant in focus, as much as possible by using a f7.1 aperture. Maybe it's not the best artistic rendition, but that's the way I remember seeing it.

Thank you for your excellent critique.

[Leighow]

DON

I hear you ... used to pay a lot more attention such things after I bought my Minolta SR-1 (NYC '63). In fact, my Brother -in - Law was through town a week or so ago totting a Minolta and I gave him my old zoom lens!

I missed the word MACO in your post but picked up on the "actual size" and figuered that we had a Texas Giant here.



PS:
Here is a maco that I took about 2 days ago of moss about 1/10 of an inch in diameter on my next door neighbour's rock garden ! With the G3 I really miss the through the lens view. This was the only shot in eight that was in focus. http://members.rogers.com/hleigh/MOSS.jpg

Looks like Ivan stayed a bit east of Texas.

[Sailor Don]

Good Macro Howie. In your moss photo, the shallow DOF works good. I like it.

Hurricane Ivan missed Texas. I feel sorry for those unfortunate folks in Mobile, Alabama.