Mushroom C & C

maggie1969

Hello all,

I'm new to photography and have owned my Canon Powershot A620 for about 7 months, so just getting to grips with what it can do.

I have attached my first attempts at macro shots and would greatly appreciate and constructive opinions on them. Please go easy on me though! Only a beginner. But any advise as to how I might improve these shots would be great! Thanks!

P.S. I hope I've uploaded the files ok. If not please let me know and I'll try again!

Zillah

First one is just boring, sorry The composition is kind of random, I don't really get what I'm supposed to be looking at, there's no structure to it.

Second one is much better. I'd crop it a little to focus on the mushroom to the right a bit more. Good macro, gives the mushroom a good sense of scale.

elven

I actually prefer the first one, I just wish you'd been a bit destructive and removed the blade of grass from the middle of the shot. In my personal experience/opinion, macro relies a lot upon simplicity and at that scale you have to be fairly fussy about what or what not to include in the shot. The first one has a lovely quality of light, which has brought out the freshness of the green, and I have no problem with the composition.

The second one is also a good shot, better than my dismal shroom efforts so far, but it's the bit of bright sky in the top right and the fact that the cap at the front is out of focus that puts me off slightly. Apart from that it's a great angle, and it's got nice bokeh (the circles made from the out of focus background) to contrast with the main subject. Definitely worth pursuing further! Also good to see results like this from a non DSLR.

Fantasy_Suicide

I love the second one. I think that blade o grass takes from the picture in the first one. The second one makes me think of alice in wonderland! Excellent!

Ruu_Old

The first one doesn't do much but the second is much better. Thanks for sharing and welcome to the board, do post again.

Zillah

Ruu wrote:

Thanks for sharing and welcome to the board, do post again.

Yes, that too. Above all else, keep shooting

real_484

I like the second one best needs to be a little sharper, not sure about the first one, kind of reminds me a some one doing a moon or builders crack maybe its just me but brought a smile to my face so liked, has potential to be a very interesting snap.

maggie1969

Thank you all for your comments. I can see the problems now with both shots which hopefully I can avoid in the next ones! Thanks for the encouragement. I never thought I'd like photography but the challenge of trying to get a good photo is becoming addictive. Thanks for welcoming me aboard and hopefully I'll post again soon!

Wez

I really like both shots, although in the first one, I'd have a larger depth of feild to bring everything into focus, and the lighting is really nice too. I disagree with Zillah, and I kinda like the fact that there's nothing that your eyes rest on, I find my eyes just kinda scan the whole image. I normally like to just shoot the photo as is, and not move things out of the way, because that's not how it was naturally, but in that picture, seeing as it's the only bit of grass in there, I'd have moved it.

In the second picture, everything is pretty much perfect, the lighting is nice and soft, nice bokeh going on in the background, and I love how the light kinda breaks through the cap of the mushie. I also really like how everything is slightly blurred, giving it a really soft look, although the cap of the mushroom on the left should be softened up a bit to blend in with the rest.

They're absolutely fantastic pics for someone still getting used to their camera imo. Keep up the good work!

mtracey

Maggie, that second one is very nice indeed, love the light coming through the mushroom. I'm sure that you're finding out that macro isn't as easy as people think . Looks like you had to get face down in the dirt to get that second one