First attempt. What did I do wrong???

First photo with my new camera, spent a week reading and now I'm practicing. I've seen a few things I'd like to fix but I'd like the opinion of people that know what the heck they are doing, which excludes me. Thanks!!!

IMAGE LINK: http://ciaranak.smugmu​g.com …e%20Peony-X2.jpg&lb=1&s=A

I'd be inclined to darken some of the out of focus (OOF) elements, like the one at the top-right, but overall it looks pretty good to me. Keep at it!

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1434731

The above is another thread in CC and shows some flowers and foliage under fairly direct light. Your shot is under indirect light, or open shade, some would say flat light. In the other thread, think you will see the difference that brighter and darker ares make in showing the depth of the plants.

IMO a nice balance between very direct and indirect should be the goal.

Fwiw, I don't think you did anything "wrong", but it might be worth trying something different.

White is a challenge. By definition it's colorless and right on the edge of being blown out. The real trick is to keep some detail in the less white parts. I think you've done that here. You've got little bits that are clipped. But as I say, that's okay in moderation. If you increased the exposure any more, you'd get more clipping and lose detail.

As for composition, I wouldn't crop it so tightly. Some might argue that it's too centered, citing the rule of thirds. But this is a symmetrical shot with no favored side. So I think the center composition is fine.

There's something white in the background underneath the bottom petal. You might think about doing away with that.

fwiw, photoshop is not showing any white clipping in the histogram. Oh, and I forgot we can view histograms in the thread now, no clipping there either.


Ciaran, if you are using photoshop, and want to see what a bit of increased contrast would do, go to

Image > Adjustments > Levels

plug in 13, .8, 246 into the boxes under the wavy line, the wavy line is the histogram.

Thanks guys. I haven't played with Photoshop to much yet though I was using Lightroom. I'll throw those numbers in there.

This was a quick photo and I didn't think it would even turn out as well as I think it did. Luckily for me the flower is right outside my front door so I will get more practice.

I'm looking into lighting but this is going to be an expensive hobby lol.

CiaranAK wrote in post #17633899
I'm looking into lighting but this is going to be an expensive hobby lol.

"The sun comes up tomorrow!"
--Little Orphan Annie. ; )

joedlh wrote in post #17633347
As for composition, I wouldn't crop it so tightly. Some might argue that it's too centered, citing the rule of thirds. But this is a symmetrical shot with no favored side. So I think the center composition is fine.

There's something white in the background underneath the bottom petal. You might think about doing away with that.

Listen to Joe - he knows.

Other than those two comments, I personally like the lighting. Very soft, velvety, like the flower itself. I think the subject is most flattered with low key, low contrast, "flat" lighting.

Rad