This is my measuring flower. When my shots don't get deeper i get the new camera

[JBW]

[chauncey]

Ya lost me with the title.

[JBW]

Ya lost me with the title.

Sorry about that sometimes I get a little cryptic. The 6 blossoms are contained in a circle abut 1 cm across. I have noticed that as my skills progress I get deeper and deeper into this flower. Here is a shot I took yesterday. It is a little sharper, a little deeper. Eventually I will find my shots don't get better. At that point i can look my wife in the eye and say ' I could do better with a better rig'. My feeling is that I might be at about 75% of the cameras potential. Luckily these flowers are actually weeds so they are always around.

[Wavelength]

I was not sure about the first image; that why i kept mum then; but i like this new one

[Ken Curtis]

Hi Brian.

I'm not sure your wife should approve new camera gear. Sorry. Just don't show her this comment. In the first image, I think the petals and right leaf are clear. The light is falling off down to the left so that area is harder to see. I also think the lower left leaf is tilted away from the camera, making it harder hold depth of field. You used an aperture of f3.1 on the second image, which limited the depth of field.

As an idea, i your software permits, I would try focus stacking to get the petals and leaves extremely sharp.

[JBW]

I was not sure about the first image; that why i kept mum then; but i like this new one

the first image worked on the blog where it went with a thought about oasis and journeys. least i thought it did. But i agree the second one is more pleasing. And deeper.

[JBW]

Hi Brian.

I'm not sure your wife should approve new camera gear. Sorry. Just don't show her this comment. In the first image, I think the petals and right leaf are clear. The light is falling off down to the left so that area is harder to see. I also think the lower left leaf is tilted away from the camera, making it harder hold depth of field. You used an aperture of f3.1 on the second image, which limited the depth of field.

As an idea, i your software permits, I would try focus stacking to get the petals and leaves extremely sharp.

As the Camera G-ds would have it Myra bought me this camera with the understanding that if and when I consistently bump up against the cameras limits then a new one is appropriate. after 20+ years she knows me well.

Gimpshop does allow for stacking but so far i am shooting hand held which means no two shots are the same.
B

[Ken Curtis]

Brian. I have not tried Gimpshop. If it aligns the layers before stacking, you might be surprised to see how well it does. Give it a try.

[conkerwood]

Brian, I am a little confused as to what you mean by deeper into the flower, because to me it looks like the first pic actually goes in deeper. The full depth of the flower in the first pic is in reasonable focus but in the second only a small segment of the flower is in focus. Certainly the second is zoomed in but the depth of field is very shallow. The best advice I would give is to be methodical in learning your camera. Pick a bright day with no wind. If you are not going to use a tripod find something to rest on or arrange a way to take a series of shots from the same position, say a metre away. Set your zoom to wide angle, choose aperture priority and shoot a series of shots at say f3.5, f4, f5.6, f8, f11 and f13. Then zoom in a little and repeat. Then try zooming in further and further and repeating the series of shots. Now spend some time on your computer comparing the results and it should be very easy to see that certain combinations will get you the depth into the flower you are after. You are then already well on the way to understanding the whole depth of field thing and maybe a few steps closer to sweet talking your wife.

Good luck.

Peter

[JBW]

Brian, I am a little confused as to what you mean by deeper into the flower, because to me it looks like the first pic actually goes in deeper. The full depth of the flower in the first pic is in reasonable focus but in the second only a small segment of the flower is in focus. Certainly the second is zoomed in but the depth of field is very shallow. The best advice I would give is to be methodical in learning your camera. Pick a bright day with no wind. If you are not going to use a tripod find something to rest on or arrange a way to take a series of shots from the same position, say a metre away. Set your zoom to wide angle, choose aperture priority and shoot a series of shots at say f3.5, f4, f5.6, f8, f11 and f13. Then zoom in a little and repeat. Then try zooming in further and further and repeating the series of shots. Now spend some time on your computer comparing the results and it should be very easy to see that certain combinations will get you the depth into the flower you are after. You are then already well on the way to understanding the whole depth of field thing and maybe a few steps closer to sweet talking your wife.

Good luck.

Peter

I have been trying your suggestion using the macro and super macro settings. But i have not tried it with zoom. I think of zoom as something for capturing distant objects rather than close in ones. I will give your suggestion a try. thanks.
B

[Downrigger]

I think part (only part) of what Peter is getting at is that you can increase depth of field for a given lens using greater distance from the subject and more severe cropping - something Mike Buckley pointed out to me here and that I now think about all the time, and that you already probably employ, Brian. Ultimately this will bring you up against the performance of your lenses and sensor as there is a degree of crop beyond which one can not happily go.

[JBW]

I think part (only part) of what Peter is getting at is that you can increase depth of field for a given lens using greater distance from the subject and more severe cropping - something Mike Buckley pointed out to me here and that I now think about all the time, and that you already probably employ, Brian. Ultimately this will bring you up against the performance of your lenses and sensor as there is a degree of crop beyond which one can not happily go.

The cropping limit I have thumped up against. I am slowly finding the balance between too far away and too close with the macro setting. Another area I am exploring for pulling up detail is underexposure. Or at least underexposure with bright objects. Quick question, is it possible with practice to get the detail level of a macro setting with a zoom lens?