Macro flower photographs

[ktuli]

Much more appealing. To me at least. Can't wait till more flowers start blooming around here!

[Vandenberg]

golden hour, just some flowers around the corner

[Katy Noelle]

golden hour, just some flowers around the corner

GASP!!! Not exactly macro but I don't care - it's definitely spring! I love the bokeh-y parts! Very poetic, sir!

[maloufn]

Oh, thank you very much, Dr. Nasseem! It's always nice when someone sees and likes what you see and like, isn't it? I've just realized, though, that I've misspoken. The first photo is it's own pic. The way I said it, it sounds as if I cropped in from the second one but I just showed the larger branch to give a sense of scale. They're two separate photos. I never even thought of cropping the smaller version - I wonder if it would hold up to that, sharpness wise? I was leaning way over a horrible snow plow bank, when I took it - no tripod. It was absolutely the only thing that I could "reach" to photograph. Well, all of that is changing rapidly, these days. Spring! I think that these might be interesting with some actions and/or textures, too.

Yes, the 60mm - I can't seem to take it off. I don't want to go back to the kit lens but, sometimes, a wider angle would really, really help. If anyone reads this and can relate.....advice, please!

Dr. Nasseem, I have been thinking of you! I've been thinking about why your tiny bug photos don't win the mini-comps (you, of course, remember putting the question out there.) I've been thinking about how much images with universal themes really speak to a wider audience. I'm not meaning to tease you but, if you could just get those bugs to emote a little more.... I can see you as the director of a movie having a little chat with one of those aphids talking about motivation for his existence - "could you just show a little more feeling in the eyes, please?". Well, that's the answer to your question that I came up with. I think your love and fascination with the hidden and tiny world is brilliant!

(Also, I need to try some of that food photography that we were talking about, oh, so long ago.)

I promise, when the April Showers stop, I'll get a macroish photo of a spring blossom....

Thanks Katy. Please leave the doctor out. My Christian name is Nasseem and that is what I would like you
to call me. By the way it means a saharan breeze. I thank you for feeling my frustrations re my little bugs,
but they dont appeal to everyone. I have had a lot of fun with them lately trying to improve capture with
off camera flash/diffusers. Not there yet.

I wish I could get these little fellows to express some emotion while being photographed but they at the
best of time are so non compliant. Furthermore, its getting cold and they are becoming rare. I might have
to put the macro aside for a while and try and do some real photography. I just finished a Studio Lighting
course. Studying light is fascinating - afterall we are painting with it are we not?

I am looking forward to your spring blossoms. Meanwhile you might want to get that wide angle lens out of
hiding.

Regards

Nasseem

[MiniChris]

"By the way it means a Saharan breeze."

I knew I'd heard that name somewhere before. I have a student in my class whose name, coincidently, is Sahara. I shall share to her, a part of her name's origin. Always something to share on this forum. Thanks!

[ktuli]

Here's another borderline macro (though it was shot with a macro lens):

Quince Blossoms

Canon EOS 7D, Tamron 180mm f/3.5 Di SP LD 1:1 Macro, 1/200 sec at f/4.6. ISO 200. No post production.

[Vandenberg]

GASP!!! Not exactly macro but I don't care - it's definitely spring! I love the bokeh-y parts! Very poetic, sir!

thank you
new one from the same serie

[Jim B.]

Crab Apple

[Letrow]

I took this one and removed the background, is this wrong? Should I have left it?

I think it probably improves the photo. Great shot. There is a hint of a window in the upper left corner. I encounter the same 'problem' now and then, as some of the beautiful flowers grow around my house. Finding a suitable background is not always possible.

[Letrow]

African Daisey

Beautiful shot Jim, I love how tender the flower looks with the stamen just peeping out.

[Katy Noelle]

Here's another borderline macro (though it was shot with a macro lens):

Quince Blossoms

Canon EOS 7D, Tamron 180mm f/3.5 Di SP LD 1:1 Macro, 1/200 sec at f/4.6. ISO 200. No post production.

The color and bokeh on this is beautiful!

[Katy Noelle]

thank you
new one from the same serie

I keep coming back to this - I want to live with it, I think. I think that expressing a profusion of bloom in a unique way is so tricky. Then, making a nice composition out of a branch, often, drives me nuts. Here, you've used your dof and that gorgeous bokeh that results to bring so much depth and make it feel like the blossoms go on to infinity (you know what I mean....) Then, there's this gorgeous play of light and shadow - it makes it feel like one of those shimmering spring days. It's so beautiful! It makes sense to me but I wonder if I'd ever have thought to have taken it. Well! SO! A simple photo but it really rings my bell.

[Letrow]

Thanks everyone for the beautiful contributions. I love springtime and summer and can't wait for all the new flowers and insects to appear.


Bee (with lots of pollen) on prunis


Leucojum


Rubis

[Katy Noelle]

Crab Apple

Jim, very beautiful! The blue shadow on the upper white petals makes it feel so crisp and fresh - like Spring, in fact! Why does this look like a painting to me? Is there something odd about the edges?

[Katy Noelle]

Thanks everyone for the beautiful contributions. I love springtime and summer and can't wait for all the new flowers and insects to appear.


Bee (with lots of pollen) on prunis


Leucojum


Rubis

Wonderful detail and clarity! The texture on the Leucojum is, well, "ethereal" is the word that springs to mind. I wish that I could see it closer - I'm sitting here, leaning over my screen.

That bee is incredible! It reminds me of Beatrix Potter and "The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse" - after Mr. Jackson (the Toad) invades Babbity Bumbles nest and eats all the honey - "They packed up their honey bags and left." That bee has quite the "honey bag".

May I please ask you, what time of day do you usually shoot in? Just curious.

[Jim B.]

Why does this look like a painting to me? Is there something odd about the edges?

Katy,
I used a program from Topaz called Simplify,it has a few different settings.I processed this with the "Painting Oil" filter.I like the effect.

[Katy Noelle]

Azalia in the morning

Camera: Canon
Model: Canon EOS 7D
ISO: 640
Exposure: 1/1600 sec
Aperture: 4.5
Focal Length: 100mm

I try to capture this Azalia without a tripod in the morning light throught my window
Input are welcom, Thanks for viewing
Thienthu

Hi, Thienthu! I'm glad that you posted this. It's really beautiful - what a morning! I like that you captured the sparkly nature of the petals - so delicate! It's good that the bud (the point of the photo) is in the light and the rest is slightly out of focus and in shadow. The only thing that I wish is that we could see the part of the bud that is in shadow better. The only thing is that you don't want to lighten the bottom right hand leaves - they should stay in shadow and oof so that they don't draw the eye. (I'm sorry, I don't know what level of photography you're at. I hope that you don't mind my suggestions.) I think that there's something else that could help but I just can't discern what it is.

Anyone else, please?

[ucci]

Love the way you seem to be able to make the flowers 'leap ' off the screen!

[Katy Noelle]

Thanks Katy. Please leave the doctor out. My Christian name is Nasseem and that is what I would like you to call me. By the way it means a saharan breeze.

Thank you! That is so nifty/cool about your name! Breezes are good....

I thank you for feeling my frustrations re my little bugs, but they dont appeal to everyone. I have had a lot of fun with them lately trying to improve capture with off camera flash/diffusers. Not there yet. I wish I could get these little fellows to express some emotion while being photographed but they at the best of time are so non compliant.

You're getting the true Hollywood director's experience, then?

Furthermore, its getting cold and they are becoming rare. I might have to put the macro aside for a while and try and do some real photography. I just finished a Studio Lighting course. Studying light is fascinating - afterall we are painting with it are we not?

YES! Something that should be said over and over again. I had some very encouraging advice from someone who said that - even though I might shoot the same thing over and over again - the light is ALWAYS different and, after all, we are painting with light - She said it just like you did. In other words, there's always something new to see and learn and capture because nothing is static.

Light! I got through Chapter four of Light: Science and Magic and, then, so many technical things to figure out started piling up (I was quite buried) that I had to stop and just take one conundrum at a time. I LOVED reading the book, though. I just absolutely LOVE light and, since it's a topic that I'm so interested in, it was as pleasant to read as Jane Austen or Patrick O'Brien's fiction. The thing is, I wish that there were exercises so that I could practice and/or check out the principles. I have some ideas of thngs to try but I'm afraid that, somehow, the laws of nature won't quite work for me. In other words, I'm afraid to try and make my own light or to control it beyond diffusers and reflectors.

[Katy Noelle]

Katy,
I used a program from Topaz called Simplify,it has a few different settings.I processed this with the "Painting Oil" filter.I like the effect.

I really, really like it, too! It's very subtle, here - I wasn't even sure; so, that means it's not hitting you in the face. My first reaction to the photo was.....well,...."Wow!"