Spring Collection

[ScoutR]

#1 Unknown small groundcover type blue flowers 1/60s: f18: ISO 200: 170mm: spot -1 EC


#2 Unknown small perennial 1/60s: f5: ISO 200: 32mm: spot


#3 Magnolia 1/640s: f5.6: ISO 100: 52mm: spot


#4 Tulip 1/125s: f16: ISO 200: 200mm: spot -1 EC


#5 Tulip 1/125: f13: ISO 200: 65mm: spot -1 1/3 EC


#6 Dandelion 1/40: f18: ISO 200: 200mm: spot

[David]

Wendy - My favourites are #3 and #5. The magnolia shot is a good classic triangular composition with the stalks adding some dynamism. The yellow tulips on the black or very dark background are also a classic freize composition. I would, myself, have probably lightened the flowers a bit more and tightened the image with a slight crop. Anyway - just ideas.

David

[Wirefox]

Wendy

This really is a step change in your photography of flowers. No 2 thru 5 are very well executed. The Magnolia shot is spot on with excellent composition and subtlety i the colours (easy to over do it with these shots...I know I do it all the time). It is very difficult to retain detail in primary colours, particularly with flowers and the exposure has to be spot on so hats off to you with the Tulips. The first shot is a little confused and would have benefitted from isolation of one or two of the flower heads. I can see where you are coming from with No6 but it is a little soft where it needs to be sharp and the composition (in my opinion) needs to be based on parallels. Excellent work with the others though.

Steve

[ScoutR]

Wendy - My favourites are #3 and #5. The magnolia shot is a good classic triangular composition with the stalks adding some dynamism. The yellow tulips on the black or very dark background are also a classic freize composition. I would, myself, have probably lightened the flowers a bit more and tightened the image with a slight crop. Anyway - just ideas.

David

Thanks David, I appreciate your suggestions. I agree about the yellow tulips. I can and will do the crop, but at this point when I try to do selective editing in PP it ends up being very obvious, so I just do what I know how to do and will try to step up the PP a bit this winter. For this one the black background was washed out so I selected it as my black point and that also darkened the flowers a bit. I thought they still looked borderline acceptable.

From Steve:
This really is a step change in your photography of flowers. No 2 thru 5 are very well executed. The Magnolia shot is spot on with excellent composition and subtlety i the colours (easy to over do it with these shots...I know I do it all the time). It is very difficult to retain detail in primary colours, particularly with flowers and the exposure has to be spot on so hats off to you with the Tulips.

Thanks Steve: I got a 5 in 1 reflector diffuser set and used them in various ways in shots 2 - 5. The magnolia is my favourite too and although it is subtle I think the reflector really helped. I used the silver one and laid it under the tree so the sun reflected back onto the bottom of the flowers.

I'm glad you said that flowers are difficult. I would never have thought such a thing. It's a flower, how can you miss. LOL, well I'm finding out! I like the tulips, but the yellow especially is very close to coming apart. That's my technical term for the colours separating and instead of blending having hard lines around them - I'm sure there is a name for it, but you are right, if you don't get them just right, there is not much room to fool around before bad things start happening. Too light = blown highlights Too dark = whatever that colour separation thing is. If I'm thinking wrong on this let me know.

Anyway, I'm babbling again, I think these were an improvement over my first attempt too, so I hope they keep getting better as the summer goes on. Although I love the bright late evening light, I'm thinking (and I've read the same) that duller days might be easier for shooting flowers

Wendy

[carregwen]

Wendy

#1 is Siberian Squill (Scilla Siberica). #2 is Lungwort (Pulmonaria)

I like the magnolia shot, but perhaps you could have given it a tad more space around the edges. The tulips are very good - did you just use a plain black backdrop? They all look very good.

Are you totally impressed with my botanic knowledge?

My wife was hanging over my shoulder and she told me...

[ScoutR]

#1 is Siberian Squill (Scilla Siberica). #2 is Lungwort (Pulmonaria)
Are you totally impressed with my botanic knowledge?

My wife was hanging over my shoulder and she told me...

Thank you Mrs. Rob. I was especially wondering about the Lungwort. It comes up every year in my Father's garden. I always wondered what it was.

I like the magnolia shot, but perhaps you could have given it a tad more space around the edges.

Thanks Rob, I agree. I could not have changed it in camera. It was hard to isolate those 3 without a lot of other stuff butting in. I should be able to do Dave's trick and increase the canvas and fill in with the blue sky though.

The tulips are very good - did you just use a plain black backdrop? They all look very good.

I used the black side of the 5 in 1 reflector diffuser set. The black was washed out though. I spot metered the tulips and then decreased exposure until the blinkies were gone. Is there a better way to meter for this type of thing?

On the Red tulips and the Lungwort, I used the silver reflector. It was on the ground propped up with a stick to the right of the red tulips. I was just trying to fill in some of the shadows. Silly thing kept falling over though, so I'm not sure how effective it was.
On the Lungwort the silver reflector was supposed to be at the side, but I changed my shooting angle and it ended up as a backdrop. The Lungwort was taken with my 18-55 kit lens and a 4X magnifier filter.

I think I need another set of these reflector things. 1 for a backdrop and/or reflector and the other for a reflector and/or diffuser, and of course a couple people to hold them for me

[carregwen]

Wendy

Yes the spot metering should get it OK. I see you bought a reflector kit then. It does work, doesn't it?

[ScoutR]

I see you bought a reflector kit then. It does work, doesn't it?

Yes, it makes a big difference. I will get more creative with it and better at setting it up with time. I can see where it would come in handy to have 2 of them, but I can probably rig something up to support the reflector/background of choice and then use the diffuser separately when required. It was not terribly expensive either. $49.00 CDN. It has black, silver, white, gold and the diffuser and is 23" diameter

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Wendy,

These really are very good and the almost the only things I'd change, if mine, are a few bits of local adjustment which I know you have deliberately avoided.
These are very minor points in an excellent series, I only raise them because I know you want me to, and if they appear cryptic, it's because I know you'll understand what I mean without going into detail.

#1 has a brown stalk 'exiting' out the top edge of frame which might be worth cloning out.

#2 I'd burn down those three white areas above the blooms

#3 May have a couple of areas where PP has blown the whites a little, but as I'm uncalibrated, I can't be certain and the addition of a little more sky is an option, but not essential, it wouldn't need much stretch.

#4 Has just two small highlights in background I'd take down, but that's about 1% improvement on 99% perfection; the image really pops

#5 I can't see anything wrong with this, the lighting is good, and yet it doesn't quite work for me, possibly the composition has a few too many blooms in?

#6 The stones are just a little too 'hot' in the left corner, otherwise a good picture of what many ignore, or pull up!

My favourites? - 1, 3 and 4, or in order; 4, 3 and 1.

Great work, but I can't believe you're thinking ahead to next winter already

[ScoutR]

I only raise them because I know you want me to, and if they appear cryptic, it's because I know you'll understand what I mean without going into detail.

Yup, I hear you and agree on every point. I even considered removing the stalk in #1, but had already taken out a flower that got cut off and it was getting messy (you probably noticed) so I thought I better quit.

#5 I can't see anything wrong with this, the lighting is good, and yet it doesn't quite work for me, possibly the composition has a few too many blooms in?

This might work better with the crop suggested by David, but the more I look at it the more I'm thinking that shadows and dramatic light, don't work that well with flowers. I think this is a case where the diffuser might have helped. I'll have to try it and find out.

I can't believe you're thinking ahead to next winter already

Only when it comes to not sitting inside at the computer on nice days. I try but my mind does not stay on it. Winter will be better, or the summer when it gets to 30+ degrees.

Thanks for your comments, as always much appreciated

Wendy