My first attempt at dew drops

Finally bit the bullet and picked up a tripod and ball head. Now that I have stability on my side, I decided to try taking a few natural-light dewdrop shots with the Canon 100mm macro combined with a Raynox 250 (total combo around 2x). Most sucked, but I got a couple I thought came out pretty well. I intentionally oversaturated the colors a tad on the second one, because I thought a slightly unrealistic/cartoonish look actually helped that one.

I tried doing a stacked shot with CZM, but it was full of errors. I think when I try this again someday, I'm going to have to do a better job on the slices.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …s/gatorlinked/6​319880294/

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

Really good for the lighting. Almost too much detail in the dew drops for my taste, but still great. Honestly both look like they'd be great as wallpapers for a phone or computer. I really love the color contrast is excellent.

Very impressive.

Lovely shots- came out well !
Brian v.

Look pretty damned good to me. The minor flaws that are there would only be nitpicked by other photogs

Colors and focus are really well done, overall.

Thanks for the comments, folks!

nice shots...

No one else will so I will tell you where you went wrong.

I'm going to assume you used a rose as the back drop to your "Dew Drop". It is very hard to tell as you did not actually focus in on a drop.

That's the first place you went wrong.

To do Dew Drops...

You need to place your "item" at a proper distance to get a good refraction of said item.. a small amount of trial and error and the normal eye can see if you have a good focal point provided you have a good dew drop. The reason I say this is because if the item is to far away you will have a very small refraction.....too close and it will overwhelm the refraction and lose out and become fractured. Yes the main center will be there but the edges will be lost in the drop. If you try to get it right you will find this to be true.

Tip. A blade of grass will never run horizontal, as you have. It will have a degree of, but never a 90. If you are doing a "Studio" shot, that just will not ever look natural. The more vertical the blade runs the better photo you will get.

Tip. Pluck many blades of grass and then arrange them much like an arrangement of flowers. Then mist them with either water, water/sugar mix, or with mostly sugar/water mix to get the biggest drops you can.

When you see a good drop, or composition that has good potential...place your flower behind it. Keep in mind if you disturb the placement of grass you spent time arranging and misting, you lose the shot.

Focus on the dew drop. Worry not about the blade of grass. GET FOCUS and see if you can see the item in the dew drop. This is the hardest part.

If you can and do, then shoot. Shoot many up and down the subject focusing only on the drops. When you have done that, compile the pics with zerene and marvel at the results.

One of mine a couple years ago using only water and a sunflower.
Hope this helps.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

To point out what I mean about distance.....
This was taken with the subject mater that was to close to the dew drop.

Even tho the subject mater was proper...ie dew drop of a good proportion, color and focus...it clearly shows the loss of the subject in the refraction I was trying to show. It is distorted to an extent.

Hope this helps.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

BASmith wrote in post #13373824
To point out what I mean about distance.....
This was taken with the subject mater that was to close to the dew drop.

Even tho the subject mater was proper...ie dew drop of a good proportion, color and focus...it clearly shows the loss of the subject in the refraction I was trying to show. It is distorted to an extent.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the tips. I will keep them in mind when I try this again.