Jumping in for C & C - first post.

[RebeccaC]

Hello all. I'm new to this forum. I wanted to jump in, probably over my head, , but here goes.
I'm a new digital camera owner, a Sony Alpha A58 SLT. Have various lenses, and am still in the process of gathering up some filters to use. So, here goes. Took this pic of a Resurrection Lily that bloomed in my yard earlier this past summer. Played with some PP in Lightroom 5.
Thanks for all your comments, and suggestions. I need the help!!

[Letrow]

Rebecca, first of all you should try to link the image from a site like Flickr. That would make it visible straight away instead of having to go for an attached thumbnail. Just more attractive to look at.
The photo is nice but perhaps cropped a little bit too tight. I am not sure about the original and if it allows more space around the flower. You could probably do with a bit of level adjustment and more saturation to bring out the colours more.
Not sure if you applied sharpening or not but all of the above could result in a more attractive photo I think. Keep them coming and experiment with PP a lot.

[Donald]

Welcome to CiC, Rebecca.

You'll see that I've edited your message and posted your picture into the post itself, rather than have sit alongside as a thumbnail.

If you ever need any help in getting images posted into your message, then please do read the helpful guide that walks you through how to do it. Click HERE to read the thread.

[Daisy Mae]

Hello Rebecca and a warm welcome to CiC.

Am glad that you felt comfortable about diving in and posting.

Before I feel able to offer advice I want to ask what you feel about this picture.....bits you like about it and bits you may not be so keen on.

I like it.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Rebecca,

It helps if we know what camera settings were used to capture an image (e.g. camera make/model (Sony A58), focal length, aperture, shutter speed, iso) so we can advise better on 'capture issues'.

I'd agree with Peter's suggestion regarding a bit more space needed around the subject.

To this I would add that the red channel looks clipped (i.e. over exposed in the histogram - this is a common problem with photographing flowers, especially if they are in direct sunlight).

The histogram also confirms my visual impression that the black point isn't as high as it needs to be, giving a slight overall greyness to the dark areas of the image.

All that said, it really isn't bad for a first C&C posting, so please don't be discouraged, when you're new to digital photography there is soooooooooooo much to learn. If I have one bit of advice; tackle one issue at a time, don't spread yourself too thin.

Hope that helps - and welcome to the CiC forums from me too,

[RebeccaC]

Hope this works this time. Here's the original image. My learning curve in LR is limited at this time, still at the stage where my PP is hit or miss, until I can figure some sort of consistency that makes sense for myself.
I'd like to see what others would do with this image, please have at it if you have the time and inclination.
The picture was taken with my Sony Alpha a58 SLT, 1/50 sec, f/16, ISO 400, at 120mm with a Minolta 80-200mm F4.5-5.6 zoom.
Thanks for everyone's patience!

[travis4567]

Hi Rebecca and welcome. Darkened the background, increased shadows a bit and increased color saturation.

[RebeccaC]

Thanks so much! I really appreciate the help and input. The image looks much better. I can see the attributes you've given to the image, and I can relate the visual context to the changes you've written about. Will try posting again when I have a photo that is worthy of posting here on the forum.

[travis4567]

Thanks , glad to help. I'm sure others on here could do much better than this. Welcome again to the forum

[Stagecoach]

Hi Rebecca,

Firstly, welcome to CiC it's certainly the place to learn and have fun.

Secondly, flowers are not easy subjects in bright light and this one has small areas of detail lost in the petals and some harsh shadow but you have captured the delicacy of the petals well overall. The background is busy and competes against the flower and this can be helped by using a wider aperture giving less DoF and blurring the background more. These things must be considered when taking the shot as they generally can not be corrected in PP.

You have achieved good sharpness throughout the depth of the flower and there's another option with flower shots that can be considered and that is to get in closer concentrating on one part and getting some of it out of focus. It's all down to personal preference and what you want to achieve.

Here's my attempt with your image for which I have tried to retain the softness of the petals you achieved and cropped one side purely on personal preference.



Grahame

[Wavelength]

So you came with a nice bunch of flowers.... In our part of the world, this flower is called "Paarvathi" meaning "the daughter of mountain"
Welcome
Regards

[RebeccaC]

Thanks all for your encouragement and support! I can feel my confidence creeping a little higher.