Critique my flower shot, please

[DavidEB]

Any comments welcome. I'm particularly interested in improving angle of view, light angle, softness of light. The light source is a 60 watt desk lamp, with a piece of wax paper held in front using a coathanger. exposure: 1/4 second, f8, ISO200. In photoshop I applied USM (80%, radius 2, threshold 2).

The second clip is a 100% crop.



thanks for comments,

[BrandonSi]

Wow! Very nice! The only thing that I would check would be your white balance there, overall it just seems a little too warm to me.. that could just be a personal preference though.

[Fujifilmnut]

Very nice and creative lighting. No suggestions for improvement!

[DavidEB]

Thanks for your comments.

Brandon - I think the WB is OK. I also shot a white object, and set custom WB to that. The colors in the photo look like the flower (it's an amazing flower, from my backyard, no less).


kind regards,

[snapper27]

great photo - please can you describe the details of the set-up for me,- how do you achieve the black background?

[DavidEB]

Snapper -

thanks for the compliment.

the black background is velvet, about 1 1/2 yards, from a fabric store, hanging off my washing machine. The light is a gooseneck desk lamp. The diffuser is a coathanger bent into a square, with waxpaper scoth-taped to cover, held to the lamp with a clothespin. Position the light so it doesn't shine on the velvet. Turn off all other lights in the room. I used a piece of cardboard to block some of the light from the velvet. Use a tripod, cable release, mirror lockup, ISO 100, aperture to get all of flowers in focus but blur the velvet. Shoot a custom white balance shot, set exposure in M and take many shots at different exposures. If the background doesn't come out perfectly black you can move the black point in photoshop with LEVELS.

thanks for asking.

[Matatazela]

Absolutely beautiful photo.

[mdr]

Wonderful. And it shows that you don't need expensive studio equipment!

[gmaize]

Compliments on your photography and gardening prowess. I think Photo #1 could use a bit more contrast, otherwise it's just great. Nice work.

--gmaize

[C.S.I.]

Outstanding........I think wb / contrast are fine! The second looks like an alien life form :lol:



Which lens please?



Great job!

[DavidEB]

Matatazela, gmaize, mdr, photopig -- thank you for the kind words.

photopig -- Tamron 28-75, focal length about 50mm give or take a bit.

kind regards,

[lordjim]

Wow! Great shots! No suggestions for improvements. WB seems ok to me.

[37*ALBERT*WAY]

Amazing shot david compliments

[charles_law]

beautiful shot

might be a n00b question..but i am one :)
i was wondering what the point was of the mirror lockup in this type of shot.
i personally just refocus after each frame.

[Sean-Mcr]

It cuts down camera shake, the exposure was 1/4 of a second, the mirror locked up will have helped to keep the camera nice and steady, as would the cable release. The right way to go about a sharp image


Great shot and idea with the paper

[PhotosGuy]

Looks good. I have the feeling that it should be cropped a bit differently, but can't see it all in my monitor, so I'm not sure what to say except to post a smaller pic next time. 550ppi tall, or 700ppi wide @ 72dpi works well for most monitors.

[Barb42]

A bit more space on the left would give the flower more room visually. The eye will go to the flower and follow its lead out of the picture (feels a bit crowded). Use some white material to reflect some fill light on the right and that will get rid of the shaddow. Lovely shot and a creative use of on-hand materials to isolate the flower and diffuse the light. Good job. :)

[DavidEB]

Lord Jim, Albert Way (friend of Darwin's?), Charles, Sean ... thanks.

PhotosGuy -- sorry about the image size. I've been posting 800 pixels, but if you've got a small monitor I'm sorry. will downsize a little more next time.

MDR - your comment about not needing expensive photo equipment strikes a nerve. I got frustrated with my old tripod after this shot (and some others same way of my wife's pottery) because the camera kept rotating loose when in portrait mode. I just ordered a new tripod, ball head, release etc. OUCH, that is expensive.

Barb - I like the idea of a white reflector and will try that. Maybe use some foam posterboard. I had centered the flower in the original, but cropped it to move closer to left. Maybe that was a mistake. Thanks for the suggestions.

kind regards,

[PhotosGuy]

The monitor is 19".