Fading Beauty

Hope I got this right, this is my first attempt at showing a picture. I chose the title for obvious reasons, this rose is in its last stages. Suggestions please.

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Nice image, nice composition..

It is overexposed however.
See the white on the leaves around the base of the rose? They are bright white,. this is called "washed out" or "Blown out" highlights. There is zero color information left,. no way to repair it. When you try this next,. especially with strong lighting, try to bracket the exposure.

I am also concerned that it is not as sharp as it could be. Was this hand held?

When shooting so close where details wil be evident.. it is important to keep the camera form moving at all.. thus a tripod will work wonders..

Nice job.

As said above, correct for washout and maybe use a smaller aperature to get a little more depth of field. It would help if some of the green was in focus.

Keep posting
Dawg

It would be nice if the light was much more softer. And yet it's a good photo.

I would have to disagree with that, i think the DOF is good and i would even like less if possible. The reason why i believe, you would like more DOF is because forms can clearly be seen in the background which are distracting and because of that you would like them sharper, they bother you being so identifiable but at the same time so blurred. That is however, closely tied with the overuse of light. If this would have been shot with the correct light, you would view the DOF as perfect with the background looking very undistracting. Just mho.

The focus I am looking for is the bud base and the stem the rose sits on. I don't have any problem with the blurred background (maybe more blur as you said).

BTW Thanks for your opinion, I always appreciate the challenge it makes me look again and will help me improve.

Dawg

Could I get a suggestion on what type of equipment you would use and the settings. Being a real newbie I just used my camera as it came with the flash and all. I have a digital rebel, 18-55 stock lense and the built in flash. Thanks for the comments so far, glad I found this forum.

Well, if shooting so close, you could try using no flash at all, and increase the exposure time if it needs be. Even if the shot turns out too dark, the colour data will still be there, and you'll be able to brighten it in post-processing.
Had the shot been taken at lower lighting, I believe it'd all fit in better. As it is, the white leaves are a bit distracting, and I'd bet they weren't really white.

OK, this picture has a overhead light on with no flash and set on Av mode. The flower is wilting even more now.

http://www3.sympatico.​ca/pselvey/rose2.jpg

This is a technical improvement.

Buy not using the flash you gained two things...

1. Much better exposure,. nothing blown out. Not too dark.

2. By using available light you got a longer shutter speed which reulted in deeper more saturated color.

Two lessons in one.

Now work on your composition and subject..