Originally Posted by
Geoff F
Flower portraits are surprisingly difficult subjects, David. I spend a lot of time in preparation of choosing the best camera angles and tidying up potential background problems before even considering pressing the shutter.
Sometimes, full sun causes exposure problems so I have to add a bit of shade such as positioning my body to create light shadow. Keeping the aperture fairly open can help to avoid backgrounds but it often requires some focus stacking, which really needs a tripod; although it is worth trying hand held if you manually focus.
For me, the Water Lily works fine.
You have a bit of over exposure on part of the petals in the Red Rose image. This is often impossible to avoid in bright sunshine.
The Pale Cream Rose is another difficult subject but you have avoided any exposure issues with this image. Although, personally I would have removed that small dead petal in the bottom left corner before shooting. Alternatively, can it be cloned out?
The Pale Yellow Rose has harsh sunshine problems and a background bright flower in the top right corner. I suspect this is one of those scenes which I would have simply walked past because of all the potential issues.
The Pale Pink Rose is in more subdued light and your exposure has worked fine this time.