Macro flower photographs

[kris]

A couple from yesterday.
Taken in the Gran Sasso Group, Apennines.

Nikon D800, 24-70mm f/2.4, 42mm, f/11, 1/200sec, ISO 100


Nikon D800, 24-70mm f/2.4, 52mm, f/4, 1/125sec, ISO 400

[Letrow]

Nice and crisp Susan, I like the detail in there.

Nat, your second photo is a beauty, very nice composition and light.

[Green Mountain Girl]

Nice and crisp Susan, I like the detail in there.

Thank you Peter. I have been working on technique - taking less throw away pictures than I used to!

Susan

[Nat]

Peter said:

Nat, your second photo is a beauty, very nice composition and light.

Thank you, Peter. Your wonderful examples in this thread have been an inspiration to us all!
Susan said:

I have been working on technique - taking less throw away pictures than I used to!

Me, too, Susan!

[Donald]

There continue to be lots of very beautiful things to look at in the images that come in to this thread.

Gradually my images have been improving, although not yet at the skill level of OP on this thread!

That's arguable. They're pretty good, in my view. With the second one in your post, I wondered if you need to put a curve onto the picture to pull up the brightness of the petals, or maybe put a little more contrast into them. They look a bit flay maybe?

Now, as a non-horticulturalist, that may be a sacrilegious statement, if that is the true colour of the flower. But, just a thought.

[Cantab]

Earlier this year I purchased a pre-owned Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro lens (no OS/VR) to use with my Nikon D7000. Posted some first efforts at the time. Gradually my images have been improving, although not yet at the skill level of OP on this thread! However, I do want to share a few. Any comments or suggestions welcome.

Purple Iris in my front yard


Variegated Wiegela blush in my front yard


Susan

Very nice photos. I'm intrigued by the crystalline appearance of the petals. I assume that's their natural state?

For the wiegela, what lighting did you use? The black background (from pp?) sets off the flower very well.

[Letrow]

A few of our lamium. We have different colours, this is the light purple variety I would say (my wife might disagree on my description of colour, but it is definitely the lighter one)



and from the same colour this one



Still trying to get out into the air. The bad weather we had didn't really help.

[Green Mountain Girl]

Nat said:

Me, too, Susan!

We are both progressing! It takes time, and attention to detail, but seeing the results is soooo satisfying...

Donald said:

They're pretty good, in my view. With the second one in your post, I wondered if you need to put a curve onto the picture to pull up the brightness of the petals, or maybe put a little more contrast into them. They look a bit flay maybe?

Now, as a non-horticulturalist, that may be a sacrilegious statement, if that is the true colour of the flower. But, just a thought.

Donald, Thank you for the kind words about my images. I try not to do a lot of PP, and not sure what you mean by putting a curve onto it. I did go in and play around a bit, brought up a bit more of color. Really, the flowers on this plant may appear to be pink from a distance, but up close the pink is not very dense on an individual flower. Here is the best I could do to bring up more color:



Here is the original photo from which I cropped this:



Bruce (Cantab) wrote:

Very nice photos. I'm intrigued by the crystalline appearance of the petals. I assume that's their natural state?

For the wiegela, what lighting did you use? The black background (from pp?) sets off the flower very well.

The texture of the petals (both the Wiegela and the Iris) are entirely natural. They really do look kind of iridescent, and almost lacy! Crystalline works, too.

In answer to the question about the background, I didn't do anything to make it look this way. I think since I was aiming downward, the frame of the raised bed may make up part of the background. It is stained a dark cedar red. Also, the variegated leaves are darker and put the frame into shadow. I have to give the credit for lighting to the sun! All I did was take the image from a position that let the sun shine on and/or through the petals. Not sure which - I did take some that day that were back-lit.

Thanks to all for the comments. I am encouraged that my images have aroused some admiration in you as viewers! That is the best compliment of all.

Susan

[Cantab]

A couple from yesterday.
Taken in the Gran Sasso Group, Apennines.

Nikon D800, 24-70mm f/2.4, 42mm, f/11, 1/200sec, ISO 100


Nikon D800, 24-70mm f/2.4, 52mm, f/4, 1/125sec, ISO 400

Andrea, the flowers in the first photo ate very attractive. Photographing a long sprig of flowers makes depth of field difficult. The flowers in the middle are in sharp focus but the ones at either end are not. I'm not sure how much difference using a bit smaller aperture and increasing the ISO would have made -- maybe not a lot.

What is the flower? I enjoy seeing your photos. They're often of plants that don't grow in my part of the world.

[Franci]

[Franci]

Sunlight was coming through the trees, just hitting the flower

[Franci]

In the top image: wild violets; in the bottom: Laburnum anagyroides

Andrea, the flowers in the first photo ate very attractive. Photographing a long sprig of flowers makes depth of field difficult. The flowers in the middle are in sharp focus but the ones at either end are not. I'm not sure how much difference using a bit smaller aperture and increasing the ISO would have made -- maybe not a lot.

What is the flower? I enjoy seeing your photos. They're often of plants that don't grow in my part of the world.

[Letrow]

I like that onobrychis Franci. That black background looks great and isolates that flower nicely.

[wommby]

What a gorgeous set of images. Love them all.

[Franci]

Thanks Peter

[Clactonian]

D2Xs, Nikkor 85mm f1.8, ISO250 1/800 f2

[Letrow]

Lovely shot Mike. I always like that kind of bokeh background. Looking at it I also like the crop, maybe something for me to think about, as I always stay close to the film format.

[Clactonian]

Lovely shot Mike. I always like that kind of bokeh background. Looking at it I also like the crop, maybe something for me to think about, as I always stay close to the film format.

Thanks Peter. The bokeh wasn't too bad straight from the camera but I've given it a helping hand using the new radial filter brush in Lightroom5 just to smooth it out a touch more. By inverting the selection I was also able to just sharpen up the flower head a touch too.
I'm a bit of a cropper for my sins, and very fond of a square format for flower pics.

[kris]

Andrea, the flowers in the first photo ate very attractive. Photographing a long sprig of flowers makes depth of field difficult. The flowers in the middle are in sharp focus but the ones at either end are not. I'm not sure how much difference using a bit smaller aperture and increasing the ISO would have made -- maybe not a lot.

What is the flower? I enjoy seeing your photos. They're often of plants that don't grow in my part of the world.

Dear Bruce,

sorry for the late answer. Yes, probably one could gain a bit of DOF by using smaller aperture. Personally I think I should have put the focus point closer, and leave the fading effect to create a sense of depth. The flowers are wild violets. Quite common in the Apennines.

Thanks for the comments.

Cheers
A.

[Letrow]

Allium