My First attempt

[adrian rathbone]

Well as the description says this is my first attempt at macro photography it`s a subject that really enthralls me especially with the field of depth problems (or at least in my case) have a look at these and please coment id love to know what you think of first outing in the small world, both of these were taken in my garden using a canon 450d and a tamron 70-300m

 

[Nathaniel Alpert]

Adrian,

So, this is your first toe in the water? Already, you have glimpsed the difficulty of this sort of photograpy. Since these shots are from your garden there is no reason that you can't repeat these shots to improve and experiment. I'd love to say these are a great first attempt, but let's say they are the foundation for improvement. In the first one, we can talk about technique and composition. I think the red flower and green leaves can be considered complimentary colors and that helps make the flower stand out; that's often good. In this case, the red seems flat and washed out, as if it is overexposed. Do you shoot in raw mode? If not, you should. Capturing good detail is in red flowers is a bit tricky and it is easy to overexpose the red channel. Do you use the in-camera histogram to assess the exposure? You should. If you don't know about histograms look on the web for a tutorial.; the histogram is the greatest advantage of digital photography over film. You can pretty well nail your exposure, or at least know that nailing it is impossible because of difficut conditions. What ISO did you use? Try setting it at 400 or 800 for a start, particularly with a 70-300 zoom. Try to get a shutter speed of 1/500 or better. It's hard to judge how well this image is focused. Focus, shutter speed and aperture are difficult to control in the graden when even a slight breeze can throw you off. However, in your own garden you can go out early in the morning when it is calm and the light is less contrasty. Or, late afternoon light is often easier to work with.

Discussion of composition could fill a book. But in this case we could start with selection. There are distracing elements just above and to the right of the main subject. Also, the red one in the background, lower left. Various techniques can be used. For example, you could temporaily move the offending blossoms. Or, in some cases, using a low f-number can help to blur out the background. And usually it's a good idea to avoid cutting off part of the flower. Composing a good flower picture is iIMHO very difficult. If you completely isolate the blossom, the picture can appear stark and clinical. Or as in the case of the second image, including several blossoms can make it difficult for the viewer to crasp which is the subject or jst where to look.

Just a few suggestions for your your consideration.

-Nat

 

[Mike Spinak]

Adrian,

Welcome to this forum.

By starting from an intent to make macro shots, instead of starting from an intent to photograph a scene that caught your eye, you have put technique before content. By doing so, you created pictures which are of little lasting value. First, find a small subject that you feel truly compelled to photograph. Compose a picture of that subject which communicates what caught your eye about it, and what you want to visually express about it, and then attempt to make the photo.

The main issue that negatively impacts most people's macro shots are that they make (to paraphrase Ansel Adams) "sharp photos of fuzzy ideas".

Once you have your concept for your macro shot well formed, in terms of intentionality, then the rest will likely flow more easily. If you need criticism or technical help, at that point, the concerns will be more easily and more accurately defined and addressed.

 

[adrian rathbone]

next attempt

ok here is another go at it same flower i thought i had it composed fine until i noticed the bud on the right of the flower, still not to worry. ok this was shot with the same lens in RAW at iso 800 and 1/500 , i have noticed there is a very fine line between being under exposed over exposed and just right, still the histogram looks ok nicely central not to many peeks , what do you think any better, im a willing learner (i think)

 

[Nathaniel Alpert]

re: next attempt

ok here is another go at it same flower i thought i had it composed fine until i noticed the bud on the right of the flower, still not to worry. ok this was shot with the same lens in RAW at iso 800 and 1/500 , i have noticed there is a very fine line between being under exposed over exposed and just right, still the histogram looks ok nicely central not to many peeks , what do you think any better, im a willing learner (i think)

Adrian,

As a technical effort, this is much improved. There are some things to discuss and perhaps to refine.

The first thing that strikes me is focus, or lack thereof. The flower looks soft. That may or may not be desireable, depending on your intent. Sometimes, a flower can be so sharp that it seems to be rendered as a clinical specimen and it can lose some of its appeal. However, for the purpose of this sort of exercise, you should really try to get it into much sharper focus. In your technical details you failed to mention the f-stop and focal length employed. One approach is to shoot with the lens wide open, so to get the petals in focus while blurring the background. This will require critical focus on the petals and that the petals be oriented perpendicular to the axis of the lens. Sometimes that can be impossible and it becomes necessary to stop down considerably. Why not try it both ways. Of course, as you stop down the lens, you have the tradeoff between depth of field and shutter speed.

I don't know much about the Canon 450, but you may be able to set your camera on autobracket and multiple frame modes. Then you can fire off three images in quick succession. Try this sort of thing to help control for motion and exposure. Just the same a careful review of the histogram is required to know what your exposure is like. Advanced digital photographers try to make their exposures so that the histogram goes to zero on the right end without clipping but as close as possible to the far right of the exposure range. This technique is often referred to as "expose to the right." Google that phrase for more information. It is still necessary to check for little blinking areas in the preview, as these indicate clipping.

The extraneous background elements are now minimal and they can be removed or mitigated with the clone or healing tools in photoshop or lightroom.

When you have completed this exercise you will have reached the stage of a "sharp photo of a fuzzy idea" mentioned by Mike Spinak. Progressing beyond that is what sets the wannabe apart from the photographer. To reveal the true beauty of these flowers and natural scenes in an artistic way is what we strive for but rarely achieve. There are many technical appraoches that you can explore in your garden. You should do that. Try using reflected light and something like a translucent white sheet to control the contrast. Read up on technique. Your camera and lens are not the limiting factors, that would be you.

-Nat