Flower - first critique post

[goatee]

So, was playing around yesterday - now aside from the too small DOF - has anyone else got any tips for this shot (EOS 300D, kit lens, 1/100s, f7.1, 55mm, ISO 200)

Thanks

Goatee

[Big_B]

It's nice but backgounds are one of the big problems when taking flower pictures like this. An A4 piece of black card held behind the flower can make a whole world of difference.

[goatee]

Thanks Big_B - it's always a dilemma whether to have something in the background, or nothing - I think you're right, that in this instance, nothing would have worked better.

[msol]

I would try to crop out the leaf on the right hand side thus puttin the flower more away from the horizontal center. Perhaps also crop of some top or bottom to get it out of the vertical center?
W.r.t the background, perhaps if you use the levels tool you can cut away some of the dark background colors and so making them black, without hurting the main flower subject. Makes sense?

[goatee]

Thanks very much for the suggestions msol - is this something like you had in mind?

[NickyBlade]

Great shot with the second one! The composition works excellent.

[Learner]

The second one really "pops" great work here:)

Learner

[Kukalie]

I like the second one, but the flowers colors are way too rich.

[goatee]

Thanks for the positive comments guys. Kukalie - I know what you mean - because I'm not handy enough with curves yet, I used Levels to tone down the background, so had to move the grey midpoint, which lightened the flower - so rather than use a mask, I cheated, and just upped the saturation, which is why the flower is so much richer in the second one.

This has given me the confidence to start submitting other pictures to the baying wolves :)

[Big_B]

The second is a huge improvement!

This has given me the confidence to start submitting other pictures to the baying wolves :)

I'm sharpening my teeth already :)

[goatee]

Hehe - actually I've just worked out why the first one was so bad - because I couldn't find the control to set the black level - brightness was set to maximum but I still couldn't see dark areas - now having found the black level control, I can now see detail in areas which were formerly very black and gloomy.

[msol]

Hi goatee, congratulations on the shot. Your second one was indeed what I had in mind (although it remains always difficult to picture upfront what it will become.) But I agree that you should work on the saturation.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to your next posts.

[PhotosGuy]

I like the 2nd one.
Re: what Big_B said works, too.
Negative Lighting – a simple technique that makes a big difference! (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=70824)

[goatee]

Thanks PhotosGuy - another useful tip from you :)!