Macro flower photographs

**Letrow** · 11th August 2011, 11:05 AM

Originally Posted by Clactonian

I agree with Katy, the light and dark contrast is very nice.

**Clactonian** · 11th August 2011, 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by Letrow

I agree with Katy, the light and dark contrast is very nice.

Thank you Katy and Peter. Yes it has indeed had the PS treatment as you can see from the original below ...

The crop is obvious, but I decreased the luminosity of the greens and purples, added a vignette and some selective unsharp mask on the flower, just to make it pop a little. The light was great, being late afternoon sun.

**Letrow** · 16th August 2011, 08:29 AM

Fern (monilophytes)

**Letrow** · 17th August 2011, 06:57 PM

Some variants of daucus carota (QAL) as far as I can make out

**ScoutR** · 18th August 2011, 01:49 AM

Very nice Peter, I like 3 & 4. I take it Daucus carota is the name for Queen Annes Lace (0r Wild carrot) The pink ones are interesting. I took some shots of what I think was pink Queen Annes Lace last week. I had never seen a coloured version before and now you have posted some too. #3 is very striking for both the colour and the sharpness of the leaves around the flower and the nice background to set them off.

Wendy

**ScoutR** · 18th August 2011, 01:56 AM

Here are 3 more from the garden.

#1. Sunflower: the plant is about 7' tall and FINALLY produced a flower.

#2. Another Red Rose after the rain. I love this Rose Bush, the blood red colour is enhanced after the rain and I have to photograph every bloom that shows up in every type of light and weather.

#3. Coreopsis: Late afternoon hazy sun and shallow DOF gave me the look I was going for in this one

Thanks for looking C&C always welcome

Wendy

**maloufn** · 18th August 2011, 04:53 AM

Katy,

Its been a while since Ive been on the site. Busy learning. I miss you guys. I have not been photogaphing bugs lately as we are hibernating at present- cold. I guess you would know what that means!!! Ive been learning Lighting, Strobist photography, portraits and reediting some of my landscapeas using ACR. Brilliant program to bring life into a lusterless photo for those who know how to use that adjustment brush, gradients etc. When those bugs start emerging Ill try and get them expressing some sort of emotion- afterall is that not we do as photographers. You just made my photographic endeavour even harder! I have been reading your blog and you certainly are a breath of fresh air. Just a delight. Please address me as Nasseem (AKA as a saharan breeze). Thank you.

Nasseem.

**Bobobird** · 18th August 2011, 07:23 AM

Not in the same league as you guys but here are a few taken with an extension tube attached to the zoom.

**Nihia** · 18th August 2011, 09:21 AM

Hi Bobo

Keep it up! That 2nd one is lovely. I like the rich creaminess & the green-yellow colours. The composition is just right for me. You may find that you are seeing parts of a flower or object, therefore that is what you would photograph best for the moment. If you know what I mean. Smaller detail, rather than the whole thing.

For the 3rd pic, the light background I find is too distracting, though the colour is good. I often find I cannot get the shot I want because of the background.

Cheers
Nihia

**Dave Humphries** · 18th August 2011, 06:34 PM

Originally Posted by ScoutR

Here are 3 more from the garden.

#1. Sunflower: the plant is about 7' tall and FINALLY produced a flower.

#2. Another Red Rose after the rain. I love this Rose Bush, the blood red colour is enhanced after the rain and I have to photograph every bloom that shows up in every type of light and weather.

#3. Coreopsis: Late afternoon hazy sun and shallow DOF gave me the look I was going for in this one

Thanks for looking C&C always welcome

Wendy

Hi Wendy,

You asked for C&C;

#1 - I think the white vignette is too broad on this one, it is encroaching on the sharp parts we want to look at

#2 - it works better here, although it does tend to 'float' in mid-air, at least the parts we want to see are nice and contrasty and I like the details in the corners with wet leaves and of course the colour of the bloom

#3 - is the strongest image for me, it might be a tad blown (lacking detail in the yellows) and the vertical blade of grass in lower right corner is a bit distracting.

I hope that was helpful,

**ScoutR** · 18th August 2011, 07:26 PM

Originally Posted by Dave Humphries

Hi Wendy,

You asked for C&C;

yes I did and I'm always happy to hear from you.

#1 - I think the white vignette is too broad on this one, it is encroaching on the sharp parts we want to look at

You always catch me when I try to cheat.

The vignette was supposed to distract from those big leaves bottom right that I could not reach to move out of the way. Yes, of course a different angle might have been better, but everywhere else there are trees in the background and I wanted the sky. Anyway point taken. Methinks I might be getting carried away with the vignette thing on the florals.

, but I do like the effect in a lot of cases.

#2 - it works better here, although it does tend to 'float' in mid-air, at least the parts we want to see are nice and contrasty and I like the details in the corners with wet leaves and of course the colour of the bloom

Thanks, I noticed the "floaty" feeling, but decided that I liked it so tried to emphasize that and the colour.

#3 - is the strongest image for me, it might be a tad blown (lacking detail in the yellows) and the vertical blade of grass in lower right corner is a bit distracting.

Thanks Dave, this is my favourite too. I like it as is, but would agree that a bit more detail or texture in the key flower would be nice. It's hard to get that soft dreamy look and still keep the detail though. In this one I was more concerned with keeping it soft looking. Maybe by next year I will be able to get both.

As for that little blade of grass, now that you mention it, I can fix that.

I hope that was helpful,

Of course, as always!!!! It's good to see you here again. You don't show up often enough.

Thanks again
Wendy

**Katy Noelle** · 19th August 2011, 02:55 AM

Originally Posted by maloufn

Katy,

Its been a while since Ive been on the site. Busy learning. I miss you guys. I have not been photogaphing bugs lately as we are hibernating at present- cold. I guess you would know what that means!!! Ive been learning Lighting, Strobist photography, portraits and reediting some of my landscapeas using ACR. Brilliant program to bring life into a lusterless photo for those who know how to use that adjustment brush, gradients etc. When those bugs start emerging Ill try and get them expressing some sort of emotion- afterall is that not we do as photographers. You just made my photographic endeavour even harder! I have been reading your blog and you certainly are a breath of fresh air. Just a delight. Please address me as Nasseem (AKA as a saharan breeze). Thank you.

Nasseem.

I am SO glad that I came into this thread, today. I've been looking forward to it but have been waiting for a moment with enough time. I might have missed this lovely comment... thank you, Nasseem! I was very happy to see you in the recent "food photography" thread.

(Also, I'm sorry that you've had to twist my arm so hard to call you by your first name.

)

It's fun to hear what you're working on, lately. Winter - especially late winter - even, without the snow - is such a good time to percolate ideas. I've just been gifted a 105mm lens and have, suddenly, been very absorbed with spotting bugs and finding out what makes them 'tic'. (Drattedly, dreadful pun.

Sorry!) However, what is good about you being in the southern hemisphere is that you can keep this thread alive while we're frozen icicles 'up' here. Actually, the sight of flowers, in the winter will keep us alive, too. Really!

Now, if only I could get my red rose to emote and smile on me like Wendy's does for her....

**Katy Noelle** · 19th August 2011, 03:02 AM

Originally Posted by Bobobird

Not in the same league as you guys but here are a few taken with an extension tube attached to the zoom.

Pshaw! These are great!

Number two is wonderful. Welcome to the thread!

Nihia has already given you good advice. I would just ask, what aperture did you use on these (sorry, I haven't figured out how to dig out a person's exif data, yet.

) It seems to me that if you had just a bit smaller aperture, then, you'd have the whole thing tack sharp. In the second one (which I really do love), it would help if those closer petals were sharper - they're so prominent and almost want to stop me from entering the frame and having a good look around.

**Katy Noelle** · 19th August 2011, 03:05 AM

Originally Posted by ScoutR

#3. Coreopsis: Late afternoon hazy sun and shallow DOF gave me the look I was going for in this one

Oh, sigh....!!!

**Katy Noelle** · 19th August 2011, 03:14 AM

Originally Posted by Letrow

Some variants of daucus carota as far as I can make out

Hi, Peter! Alright, I'm giving up on picking my favorite one.

It is - it IS Queen Anne's Lace. which I've figured out this year that they call it 'cow parsley' in the UK; so, now, I know what all my British blogging friends were going on about. Now, also, I've learned something new. One year, in my sister's garden, she didn't remove her carrots and, the next year, she had the most beautiful large flowers that looked just like these - but bigger. The lovely thing is that I'm not allergic to carrots but I am to QAL!!! This explains an awful lot!

The only two thoughts that I have are, one: the background is always the same for me, too - that stripey bokeh of the grass from the field that it's growing in. Two: could some of those photos be a bit "brighter"? (Now, my screen isn't calibrated; so, take my advice with a 'grain of salt' - actually, you should just always take my advice with a 'grain of salt'.....)

**Letrow** · 19th August 2011, 07:34 AM

Originally Posted by Katy Noelle

Hi, Peter! Alright, I'm giving up on picking my favorite one.

It is - it IS Queen Anne's Lace. which I've figured out this year that they call it 'cow parsley' in the UK; so, now, I know what all my British blogging friends were going on about. Now, also, I've learned something new. One year, in my sister's garden, she didn't remove her carrots and, the next year, she had the most beautiful large flowers that looked just like these - but bigger. The lovely thing is that I'm not allergic to carrots but I am to QAL!!! This explains an awful lot!

The only two thoughts that I have are, one: the background is always the same for me, too - that stripey bokeh of the grass from the field that it's growing in. Two: could some of those photos be a bit "brighter"? (Now, my screen isn't calibrated; so, take my advice with a 'grain of salt' - actually, you should just always take my advice with a 'grain of salt'.....)

I have to think about that bokeh. It is quite noticeable in the two last ones especially. Not sure what I can do about though yet. Maybe something in Gimp. The way I photograph makes it impossible to improvise with a background (paper or such) that I would take along, so it has to happen in postprocessing.
Normally with my macro photos it would be fine, because the flowers are often tiny and as a result the bokeh is much, much vaguer. But the QAL is quite big, so...