Good, Bad or try again !!

[Nigel Wallace]

Folks

Following on from another post i put the in "Still Life" section. I would really appreciate some comments on some home studio pictures of flowers i took today.
I think they lack the "WOW "factor and if anyone has any advice on what i could have done better or did well i would be gratefull

I attach a couple of pics.
"Flowers" was taken with a 10d, sigma 28 - 80, f36 @ 2.5secs, iso 100

"flower 1" was taken with a 10d, 17 -40, f22 @ 4sec's, iso 100

More can be found on my Pbase site below under still life.

Cheers
Nigel

[WGK]

Both are very good. I like the first one best. Well done...

[klynam]

Definitely the first one. As for wow factor, I think you got it. The confidence to put one lovely flower, isolated in a black field, is terrific. Certianly you could add some snap to it with level adjustments, sharpening, and layer effects in PS. But it's a darn nice shot just as you took it.

[sGu]

You're right, they lack of "wow" factor.

Any particular reason why you use smallest aperture in both shots? Since object's physical occupation of field of view is very narrow, an aperture of 5.6 would probably be enough to keep everything sharp.

Also with flowers you either show everything or you show very little - "macro" shots. If would be interesting if you angle camera from top down in the first shot and let aperture wide open, focus on the centre of flower, use some fill flash if possible, see if you like the different look. :D

Good exposures!

[Nigel Wallace]

Folks

Thanks for the feedback, appreciate it

sGu

Thanks for the advice, i'll give it a try and compare. What would you say is missing in the WOW department ?

Cheers

Nigel

[sGu]

For the first shot, I think some bounced fill flash from the top would lighten up the object a bit, make it stand out from the background, also give it some life.

As for the "wow" factor, it's very hard to specify the exact, different viewer has different opinions, if you can blend your vision and creativity into object's life itself, it'll probably do the trick. All I can suggest is keep trying, different lighting, different angle, different set up, until you find one shot that "wow" yourself :D

[KelliShaver]

I prefer the 2nd pic to the first, actually, though I woudl probably crop it differently. I agree that a little more lighting would do a lot for both shots.

Side note, how do you like the Sigma 28-80? I've been thinking of purchasing one.

[PhotosGuy]

You're on the right track!
#1 I'd like to see the center portion sharper & maybe a tighter crop. Second thought: "f22 @ 4sec's" should have given you a tack-sharp pic. Might be some cam movement there. Try a sequence of 3 shots to eliminate mirror vibration if you can't lock it up - the 2nd or 3rd will probably be sharper. Self timer will help, too.
#2 Nice, interesting lighting, but needs a tighter crop, too.
Kep at it!

[Don Ellis]

Hi Nigel,

For me, it's #2... much more interesting. I agree with the "tighter crop" comments and would like to pass on one of my standard hints: Just because you're shooting 4:3 ratio doesn't mean you have to crop at that ratio. There's also 3:2 (SLR film and DSLR), 1:1 (2-1/4 square format), and 4:5 (8x10, also a film format). There is also free cropping, but I tend to avoid it for lots of reasons I won't go into here.

In this case, 3:2 works well because of the tall, slender subject.

Another suggestion is to make blacks BLACK. Your background is not true black. That should be your starting point.

Finally, I brought out a bit of highlight detail, increased saturation very slightly, and used a very mild S-curve to brighten highlights and darken shadows. This is the result (reduced to 640 pixels), for what it's worth...

http://www.kleptography.com/dl/flower640.jpg

On these type of shots, you might want to take a few underexposed by 1/3 or 2/3 of a stop (or even a full stop --exposure bracketing). That's because it's easy to get blown highlights and you can usually rescue more detail from the shadows than you can from the highlights (a blown highlight -- all white -- is not rescuable at all).

I generally don't touch photos unless there's really something to work with and I think you're doing fine. I do agree with another poster that the best shots tend to be like #2 or macro. Number 1 is just a flower with not much to recommend it for visual interest.

Cheers,

Don

[PhotosGuy]

...you might want to take a few underexposed by 1/3 or 2/3 of a stop ... Might as well shoot RAW in the first place! ;-)

[Nigel Wallace]

Folks

Thanks for all the advice you have given me on this subject. I will certainly try your suggestions.

What about this shot :
Again the 10d with the Sig 28 - 80 HF Macro.

Cheers

Nigel

[IanBMW]

Now that pic is quite amazing. Like the colors. As for the first ones I think they look a little soft? Might I suggest not to be scared of higher ISO's.....prolly would of been a little sharper at like ISO200 or ISO400 even. A 4 second exposure is pretty long and Would be a little difficult to keep the subject perfectly still.

[sGu]

Folks

Thanks for all the advice you have given me on this subject. I will certainly try your suggestions.

What about this shot :
Again the 10d with the Sig 28 - 80 HF Macro.

Cheers

Nigel

Now, THAT's what i'm talking about! :D

Excellent work, that is a huge improvement!!!

[Nigel Wallace]

sGu

Thank you very much and thanks to everyone that has also given me feedback on this thread to. Much appreciated :D

Regards

Nigel

[stoneylonesome]

Fantastic. But I too have to go for #2. I think the contrast in colors is really good