Flower Pics (C&C please)

mikeanywhere

First time I ever tried to do macro shots of flowers. Not sure if there is a rule of thumb when doing these kind of things - appreaciate any good advice!!

elven

What kit were you using?

I think the second one is pretty good, the first is overexposed so you can't see the detail in the petals, and it's also a little bit busy so you're not sure where to focus in the frame.

If you consider them together, you'll see that the second one works much better because it's a very simple composition. The white of the flower looks really pretty against the dark green leaves in the background - and the background is simple and not distracting because you've got a shallow DOF. I might be inclined to crop it a little, to cut off the dark area in the bottom right, and make the flower slightly larger in the frame. It's a nice composition, putting the flower on the thirds and having the leaves in the rest of the space is nice and balanced, I think. Beyond that, just a bit of post processing to bring up the green a bit more if you fancied it, and maybe add a wee bit of sharpening or even just the unsharp mask to give some local contrast (my personal favourite trick, although you have to try it out to see if it suits any particular picture).

Anyway I hope you find that useful, if you have any questions just shout

mikeanywhere

Thanks for that Elven.

I was using a Canon 20D with the standard lens that came with it (cant for the life of me remember which one it was).

My biggest problem is not knowing how to use the software that came with camera to be able to do some of the things you mention. So literally other than using photoshop to do some cropping I am pretty clueless when it comes to that.

But I know, practice, practice!!

elven

There are a million online photoshop tutorials, and if you pick up a magazine or two they have them in there too, to get you started. The first thing to have a play about with is the 'levels' tool, under image/adjustments. Then lower down that menu is hue/saturation.

If you're going to want to do more macro stuff, it may be worth getting the canon 50mm f1.8 (which is also great for low light portraits) and a set of extension tubes, they've been discussed (extensively, boom boom) in a few recent threads. This will allow you to get really close up, and have a lovely shallow DOF, for a lot less than the cost of a macro lens.

mikeanywhere

Appreciate the feedback - many thanks!!

Fionn

yep i'd agree with elven
second one has a nice bokeh (blurred background) makes the flower stand out, i'd say apply the rule of thirds for all of your macro shots too, crop tighter might look ok
overall nice shots

mikeanywhere

Thanks Fionn,

Thanks for the info. Will defo be trying some more this weekend for all the review!!!