Floral shots and some help..

[frenchfx]

I did some floral shots today with my canon 50mm 2.5 macro. I am wanting to get more of the flower in focus, I guess, a larger DOF? even if I shoot at f22 the flower has more out of focus points then in.

I read up on stacking would this be the primary tool to attain a completely in focus flower?

Here are 2, I'm not real happy with, there ok, there flowers so there going to look good, but I am wanting more depth, or pop.


C&C very welcome as are tips and advice.

Shot w\2 ab400 studio lights.
Canon 40D F22 50 2.5 macro, manual focus with live preview, tripod used w\remote)
(very little post, minor sharpening, white balance and contrast in DPP)
http://frenchfx.smugmug.com/photos/417673448_jQ6Zo-L.jpg

Canon 40D F16 50 2.5 macro.
(very little post, minor sharpening, white balance and contrast in DPP)
http://frenchfx.smugmug.com/photos/417686640_dMxsb-L.jpg

[LordV]

Both look pretty good to me- my only nitpick would be on subject isolation- find the other flowers in the BG a bit distracting.

Re the DOF - 3 choices.
1. Use the DOF rather than fighting it to "highlight" the area/part of interest.
2. Shoot at a different angle or from further away (and perhaps crop)
3. Use focus stacking to get more DOF but this can make a flower look remarkably flat if it's all in focus.

Brian V.

[frenchfx]

Both look pretty good to me- my only nitpick would be on subject isolation- find the other flowers in the BG a bit distracting.

Re the DOF - 3 choices.
1. Use the DOF rather than fighting it to "highlight" the area/part of interest.
2. Shoot at a different angle or from further away (and perhaps crop)
3. Use focus stacking to get more DOF but this can make a flower look remarkably flat if it's all in focus.

Brian V.

appreciate the response,
I was really fighting w\DOF.
Never thought about a flower looking flat, but I guess that makes sense.
I'll give this a try.
thanks

[r.morales]

I am trying to figure out same thing .
DOF
Read the DOF charts , about focus stacking , HDR , extension tubes [ lose Dof ] Tele-converters [ lose Dof ]
Looks like more distance with larger lens and crop . Too me that means more mega pixals - raw - maybe even a 50 D ?
Thanks for posting .

[frenchfx]

I agree, more distance and crop, = more pixels etc... you need to nail the exposure and need to deal with some noise, at least I did. Nothing neat image wouldn't handle it just adds more time to post. These were taking earlier today, there better then the first batch, so I guess it also just takes experience. Same setup as before.
http://frenchfx.smugmug.com/photos/418198376_rwfS9-M-1.jpg
and\or working w\DOF as mentioned also
http://frenchfx.smugmug.com/photos/418198483_3WAcn-M-1.jpg

[gardengirl13]

Much more interesting then the first two! Good job!