Tiny Violas

[skitterbug]

These are one of my favorite flowers - well I do like them all - but these caught my fancy today. I would appreciate C & C since I'm still trying to sharpen my photo skills. To give an idea of the conditions this pic is taken in - there isn't much sunshine and it is very windy. (It was taken 55mm, 1/320 sec at f/7.1 ISO400. I used the Tv setting of my Canon.)

Thanks for all opinions!

[Geoff F]

That is a very difficult scene to photograph, Sandy. Weak sunshine was probably your friend and has helped to prevent the harsh lighting which so often spoils this sort of subject.

There are a couple of slightly bright leaves which I would probably selectively tone down just a fraction, but otherwise, a very good photograph.

[Shadowman]

Nice capture.

[Chri5]

(It was taken 55mm, 1/320 sec at f/7.1 ISO400. I used the Tv setting of my Canon.)

Thanks for all opinions!

Hi. I like the colour in the photo but its a little harsh.

Why did you choose f/7.1 ISO400? Not that there is anything wrong with these settings but I would have chosen F/8 or F/11 and an ISO of probably 100.

If I where you I would change my setting to av. This way your camera will select the shutter speed for you so all you have to worry about is what aperture to choose. This way you can learn about aperture and see what different apertures will do to you photos, then further down the line once you have the grasp and feel a bit more confident you can maybe try manual setting. Thats how I started out. I was on full auto then someone recommended I go to av which I did. My photos where not very good at the time but just learning about aperture improved my photography 10 fold. Now I shoot full manual mode and if I do say so myself I think my photos are not half bad.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Chris,

Why did you choose f/7.1 ISO400? Not that there is anything wrong with these settings but I would have chosen F/8 or F/11 and an ISO of probably 100.

I think I can answer this - as Sandy explained shutter priority was chosen because of the wind and the need to sufficiently freeze any movement in petals and leaves.

Going to ISO 100 would have required a shutter speed two stops slower; 1/80s.
Going to f/8 or f/11 would have required another half to one and a half stops slower; 1/50s to 1/25s.

Chances are the shot would have been spoiled by subject movement at 1/50s or possibly even camera shake, if taken at 1/25s.


Hi Sandy,

Forgive me for jumping in like that, but I think your choices were valid and thought I should say why.

I really like the shot and the way the bold colours stand out from the background, this is usually quite difficult to achieve 'in the wild', but you spotted this scene and the Depth of Field and point of focus have (additionally) made the most of it.

Well done, Dave

[Chri5]

Hi Chris,



I think I can answer this - as Sandy explained shutter priority was chosen because of the wind and the need to sufficiently freeze any movement in petals and leaves.

Going to ISO 100 would have required a shutter speed two stops slower; 1/80s.
Going to f/8 or f/11 would have required another half to one and a half stops slower; 1/50s to 1/25s.

Chances are the shot would have been spoiled by subject movement at 1/50s or possibly even camera shake, if taken at 1/25s.

Hi Dave,

Thank you very much for explaining this and I apologize if my comment seemed critical, It was not my intention. You see I struggle with the technical aspect of photography. It somewhat confuses me

[skitterbug]

That is a very difficult scene to photograph, Sandy. Weak sunshine was probably your friend and has helped to prevent the harsh lighting which so often spoils this sort of subject.

There are a couple of slightly bright leaves which I would probably selectively tone down just a fraction, but otherwise, a very good photograph.

Thank you Geoff. The leaves are a bit waxy and I imagine that's why they took on a shinier appearance. You may chuckle but I'm not sure how to tone down just one part of a photo yet. I'm still learning PP techniques. I've finally settled on Adobe LR so that is a first step. And when the Nik collection came up as a freebie, I grabbed that! So maybe within these applications, I can begin to selectively edit!

[skitterbug]

Thank you very much Dave for your kind words! And I am glad you "jumped in". To be honest, I could not have given the technical explanation that you gave to Chris, but I knew that I needed to combat the wind shaking the flowers or all I would have had is blurred petals. I do agree with Chris on one point and that is the need to pick a camera setting and work with it for awhile until I am totally comfortable and then moving on to another setting. It makes me impatient though because every now and then I see a picture that is a "once in a lifetime" shot and I don't want to miss it!

But anyway, learning does take time and practice!

I really appreciate your assessment of my pic! You made my day!

[Dave Humphries]

Thank you very much for explaining this and I apologize if my comment seemed critical, It was not my intention.

No, no, you made it clear you were merely asking why.

I hope my answer was similarly uncritical.

[Geoff F]

You mention not knowing how to selectively alter part of a photo, Sandy. I use Curves, or other options, on a layer then add a mask which I edit by brushing over the mask so only the required area is changed. Something which I do in a lot of my images.

However, when using software without that ability, you might try carefully using an Adjustment Brush.