springtime with colors- newbie

[melatonin]

What could I have done better? Which one is good? Are all crappy? This was using A720IS on macro mode and auto mode. Thanks for looking. I am learning so much from this forum.

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll136/melatonin1/IMG_1325.jpg

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll136/melatonin1/IMG_1260.jpg

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll136/melatonin1/IMG_1317.jpg

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll136/melatonin1/purplelilacs.jpg

[lbcyalater]

I usually like alot of contrast but it looks like you may have gone a TAB bit far with it...at least on the monitor im on

[jennnyy]

I think you should adjust the DOF, it would look better.

[wayne_eddy]

Isolation, DOF, Exposure ...

[Flo]

Shooting in the bright sun? Wait until its not so harsh.esp on whites.they blow every time...a crop on the dogwood would bring the single flower more into focus...

DOF for sure.you can see your focus is on the leaves and not the flowers themselves.

[melatonin]

thanks guys, I am a complete newcomer, and these comments are helping me. somehow my camera does not produce a picture with a blurry background. i tried many settings but if i have the aperture at the highest (2.6 i think), all i get is a dark black picture. I need to understand stuff more. also I was shooting it just after the rain, and there was no sun. How can I make the whites look better?

[Walczak Photo]

thanks guys, I am a complete newcomer, and these comments are helping me. somehow my camera does not produce a picture with a blurry background. i tried many settings but if i have the aperture at the highest (2.6 i think), all i get is a dark black picture. I need to understand stuff more. also I was shooting it just after the rain, and there was no sun. How can I make the whites look better?

It might help us to make suggestions in regards to specific settings if we knew what model camera you have.

As far as the pictures themselves go, except for yoru second shot which really does look over-saturated, I like the colors. The biggest thing I'm seeing that needs improvement is your compositions. Typically tighter shots of individual flowers or groups of 2 or 3 really close flowers usually works the best when you're first learning. Also as others have said, a shallower DOF would help to isolate individual flowers.

Good Luck,
Jim