Macro My attempt

My attempt · **1 Like**

Here is one of my pathetic attempts at macro, I am no eaglem but maybe with practice he will let me stand in his shadow one day.

**eaglem** · 02-10-2014, 08:06 PM

I think these have been well captured and you've created a good DOF to bring in the viewer.

j2photos · 02-10-2014, 08:10 PM

Originally posted by eaglem

I think these have been well captured and you've created a good DOF to bring in the viewer.

Thanks for the words of encouragement em. I am going to do more macro shooting so maybe you have competition (yeah, right!)

**Bob Harris** · 02-10-2014, 08:22 PM

nicely done I would say, one thing about EM is that he is always willing to help and answer questions.

**MSL** · 02-10-2014, 09:06 PM

Well the first isn't macro, per se, but is a lovely shot. My neighbor grows an orange variety and they are fun to shoot. You've got a nice, angled shot showing both the flowers as a whole and the stamen and pollen. Good DOF as others have pointed out.

The second shot is a nice macro, in the sense of capturing detail, but lacks something in the composition. I have dozens of shots like this. It is really hard when focusing for macro not to center the object you want in focus. It is hard to think of a good composition when you get in this close, because the background gets so uniform. I'd call this a good starting point and I'll confess I'm not sure I've figured out how to do this all that much better. Not yet, but I'm going to keep trying.

j2photos · 02-10-2014, 09:12 PM

Originally posted by MSL

Well the first isn't macro, per se, but is a lovely shot. My neighbor grows an orange variety and they are fun to shoot. You've got a nice, angled shot showing both the flowers as a whole and the stamen and pollen. Good DOF as others have pointed out.

The second shot is a nice macro, in the sense of capturing detail, but lacks something in the composition. I have dozens of shots like this. It is really hard when focusing for macro not to center the object you want in focus. It is hard to think of a good composition when you get in this close, because the background gets so uniform. I'd call this a good starting point and I'll confess I'm not sure I've figured out how to do this all that much better. Not yet, but I'm going to keep trying.

Thank you for the advice! I can use all the help I can get right now. I am glad I am participating more so that I learn more from so many wonderful photographers here on Pentaxfourms. I learn something new everyday.

ausmoose · 02-10-2014, 10:49 PM

That's amazing!! If it's pathetic, then what am I?

Attached Images

j2photos · 02-10-2014, 10:54 PM

Originally posted by ausmoose

That's amazing!! If it's pathetic, then what am I?

Well, you arent shooting with a macro for starters. looks like the focus is a tad off, but again its not a macro. If it just rained then to drops are cool, if you sprayed then I think you may have gone a little heavy, when you look at one @eaglem has taken, less is more and he proves it time and time again.

Whenever i look at my own photos I am disgusted, then I go into one of his threads and its like im garth from waynes world.

"We're not worthy, we're not worthy!"

ausmoose · 02-10-2014, 10:58 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by j2photos

Well, you arent shooting with a macro for starters. looks like the focus is a tad off, but again its not a macro. If it just rained then to drops are cool, if you sprayed then I think you may have gone a little heavy, when you look at one @eaglem has taken, less is more and he proves it time and time again.

Whenever i look at my own photos I am disgusted, then I go into one of his threads and its like im garth from waynes world.

"We're not worthy, we're not worthy!"

I think my aperture was too short. This was one of my first macros and I thought that a low aperture would be good.. here's a slightly better one.

j2photos · 02-10-2014, 10:59 PM

Originally posted by ausmoose

I think my aperture was too short. This was one of my first macros and I thought that a low aperture would be good.. here's a slightly better one.

That one is much better, I like the colors.

ausmoose · 02-10-2014, 11:00 PM

Originally posted by j2photos

That one is much better, I like the colors.

thanks, it was a more recent shot after I'd read some more about macro photography and higher apertures

**Bruce Clark** · 02-11-2014, 12:28 AM

I don't believe there are any hard and fast rules, everyone has their own interpretation on what a macro should be. For me, a macro is a way of showing fine detail or isolating an important part of the object, in this case a flower. Magnification is one factor to consider and so is depth of field.

In your first image magnification is not apparent so I would more than likely call this a close-up rather than macro. Mind you the terms are loose and very subjective. But more importantly, to me at least, there is no real point of interest. It is a nice bunch of flowers. Depth of field is all over the place with petals on the left in sharp focus as well as the main flower. A crop of some of the petals on the left might help isolate the main flower.

The second is a whole lot closer to a great macro shot in my mind. Very close in fact. You are definitely on the right track. You have used depth of field to isolate 1 stamen but and this is my interpretation, you have left the other 2 blurry. The sharp one is great but the blurry ones draw attention away from it. The background is wonderfully blurred but I feel if you had the three stamens in sharp focus it would be better. Just enough depth of field to include everything of importance and no more, shallow enough depth of field to blur the undesirable and no less. It can be difficult to get right. MSL points out the composition is not quite right and I agree with that assessment.

Best thing is you are in there and having a real go and giving that K-7 a great workout.

I can't wait to see more of your work.

j2photos · 02-11-2014, 12:31 AM

Originally posted by Bruce Clark

I don't believe there are any hard and fast rules, everyone has their own interpretation on what a macro should be. For me, a macro is a way of showing fine detail or isolating an important part of the object, in this case a flower. Magnification is one factor to consider and so is depth of field.

In your first image magnification is not apparent so I would more than likely call this a close-up rather than macro. Mind you the terms are loose and very subjective. But more importantly, to me at least, there is no real point of interest. It is a nice bunch of flowers. Depth of field is all over the place with petals on the left in sharp focus as well as the main flower. A crop of some of the petals on the left might help isolate the main flower.

The second is a whole lot closer to a great macro shot in my mind. Very close in fact. You are definitely on the right track. You have used depth of field to isolate 1 stamen but and this is my interpretation, you have left the other 2 blurry. The sharp one is great but the blurry ones draw attention away from it. The background is wonderfully blurred but I feel if you had the three stamens in sharp focus it would be better. Just enough depth of field to include everything of importance and no more, shallow enough depth of field to blur the undesirable and no less. It can be difficult to get right. MSL points out the composition is not quite right and I agree with that assessment.

Best thing is you are in there and having a real go and giving that K-7 a great workout.

I can't wait to see more of your work.

Thank you for your kind words, I am definately taking all this in and will use it the next chance I get. Hopefully with more practice I will improve

**eaglem** · 02-11-2014, 01:17 AM

You've all made some very valid points about your Macro photography and I can see by putting in thought and practicing your shots I'm seeing improvement. Not all about Macro is getting razor sharp focus, you can have crisp focus but if there is noise in the shot it won't look too sharp. I feel it is important to remove as much noise as you can from the shots you take, especially low light shots to get that eye grabbing image. I use Photoshop CS6 and use the noise removal program it offers in "filters" first then I'll run the image through Topaz DeNoiser for a finer finish. If the focus is slightly out I'll use Focus Magic to correct it.

My camera is always set on Tav and my shutter speed mainly on 250/sec and aperture at F11 but that will vary depending on the light available at the time. Hope this helps you guys.

slowpez · 02-11-2014, 08:54 AM

Originally posted by eaglem

You've all made some very valid points about your Macro photography and I can see by putting in thought and practicing your shots I'm seeing improvement. Not all about Macro is getting razor sharp focus, you can have crisp focus but if there is noise in the shot it won't look too sharp. I feel it is important to remove as much noise as you can from the shots you take, especially low light shots to get that eye grabbing image. I use Photoshop CS6 and use the noise removal program it offers in "filters" first then I'll run the image through Topaz DeNoiser for a finer finish. If the focus is slightly out I'll use Focus Magic to correct it.

My camera is always set on Tav and my shutter speed mainly on 250/sec and aperture at F11 but that will vary depending on the light available at the time. Hope this helps you guys.

I bow to the master. Great advice as always. Looking forward to seeing more of your shots j2. This was a nice start.

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02-10-2014, 10:58 PM - 1 Like	#9
ausmoose Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Sydney, NSW Photos: Albums Posts: 968	Originally posted by j2photos Well, you arent shooting with a macro for starters. looks like the focus is a tad off, but again its not a macro. If it just rained then to drops are cool, if you sprayed then I think you may have gone a little heavy, when you look at one @eaglem has taken, less is more and he proves it time and time again. Whenever i look at my own photos I am disgusted, then I go into one of his threads and its like im garth from waynes world. "We're not worthy, we're not worthy!" I think my aperture was too short. This was one of my first macros and I thought that a low aperture would be good.. here's a slightly better one. Attached Images

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02-10-2014, 08:06 PM	#2
eaglem Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Perth Western Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 43,144	I think these have been well captured and you've created a good DOF to bring in the viewer.

02-10-2014, 08:10 PM	#3
j2photos Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Manteca, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,653 Original Poster	Originally posted by eaglem I think these have been well captured and you've created a good DOF to bring in the viewer. Thanks for the words of encouragement em. I am going to do more macro shooting so maybe you have competition (yeah, right!)

02-10-2014, 08:22 PM	#4
Bob Harris Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Canon City, Colorado Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 18,477	nicely done I would say, one thing about EM is that he is always willing to help and answer questions.

02-10-2014, 09:06 PM	#5
MSL Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Greater Toronto Area Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,749	Well the first isn't macro, per se, but is a lovely shot. My neighbor grows an orange variety and they are fun to shoot. You've got a nice, angled shot showing both the flowers as a whole and the stamen and pollen. Good DOF as others have pointed out. The second shot is a nice macro, in the sense of capturing detail, but lacks something in the composition. I have dozens of shots like this. It is really hard when focusing for macro not to center the object you want in focus. It is hard to think of a good composition when you get in this close, because the background gets so uniform. I'd call this a good starting point and I'll confess I'm not sure I've figured out how to do this all that much better. Not yet, but I'm going to keep trying.

02-10-2014, 09:12 PM	#6
j2photos Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Manteca, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,653 Original Poster	Originally posted by MSL Well the first isn't macro, per se, but is a lovely shot. My neighbor grows an orange variety and they are fun to shoot. You've got a nice, angled shot showing both the flowers as a whole and the stamen and pollen. Good DOF as others have pointed out. The second shot is a nice macro, in the sense of capturing detail, but lacks something in the composition. I have dozens of shots like this. It is really hard when focusing for macro not to center the object you want in focus. It is hard to think of a good composition when you get in this close, because the background gets so uniform. I'd call this a good starting point and I'll confess I'm not sure I've figured out how to do this all that much better. Not yet, but I'm going to keep trying. Thank you for the advice! I can use all the help I can get right now. I am glad I am participating more so that I learn more from so many wonderful photographers here on Pentaxfourms. I learn something new everyday.

02-10-2014, 10:49 PM	#7
ausmoose Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Sydney, NSW Photos: Albums Posts: 968	That's amazing!! If it's pathetic, then what am I? Attached Images

02-10-2014, 10:54 PM	#8
j2photos Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Manteca, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,653 Original Poster	Originally posted by ausmoose That's amazing!! If it's pathetic, then what am I? Well, you arent shooting with a macro for starters. looks like the focus is a tad off, but again its not a macro. If it just rained then to drops are cool, if you sprayed then I think you may have gone a little heavy, when you look at one @eaglem has taken, less is more and he proves it time and time again. Whenever i look at my own photos I am disgusted, then I go into one of his threads and its like im garth from waynes world. "We're not worthy, we're not worthy!"

02-10-2014, 10:59 PM	#10
j2photos Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Manteca, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,653 Original Poster	Originally posted by ausmoose I think my aperture was too short. This was one of my first macros and I thought that a low aperture would be good.. here's a slightly better one. That one is much better, I like the colors.

02-10-2014, 11:00 PM	#11
ausmoose Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Sydney, NSW Photos: Albums Posts: 968	Originally posted by j2photos That one is much better, I like the colors. thanks, it was a more recent shot after I'd read some more about macro photography and higher apertures

02-11-2014, 12:28 AM	#12
Bruce Clark Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Ocean Grove, Victoria Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,458	I don't believe there are any hard and fast rules, everyone has their own interpretation on what a macro should be. For me, a macro is a way of showing fine detail or isolating an important part of the object, in this case a flower. Magnification is one factor to consider and so is depth of field. In your first image magnification is not apparent so I would more than likely call this a close-up rather than macro. Mind you the terms are loose and very subjective. But more importantly, to me at least, there is no real point of interest. It is a nice bunch of flowers. Depth of field is all over the place with petals on the left in sharp focus as well as the main flower. A crop of some of the petals on the left might help isolate the main flower. The second is a whole lot closer to a great macro shot in my mind. Very close in fact. You are definitely on the right track. You have used depth of field to isolate 1 stamen but and this is my interpretation, you have left the other 2 blurry. The sharp one is great but the blurry ones draw attention away from it. The background is wonderfully blurred but I feel if you had the three stamens in sharp focus it would be better. Just enough depth of field to include everything of importance and no more, shallow enough depth of field to blur the undesirable and no less. It can be difficult to get right. MSL points out the composition is not quite right and I agree with that assessment. Best thing is you are in there and having a real go and giving that K-7 a great workout. I can't wait to see more of your work.

02-11-2014, 12:31 AM	#13
j2photos Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Manteca, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,653 Original Poster	Originally posted by Bruce Clark I don't believe there are any hard and fast rules, everyone has their own interpretation on what a macro should be. For me, a macro is a way of showing fine detail or isolating an important part of the object, in this case a flower. Magnification is one factor to consider and so is depth of field. In your first image magnification is not apparent so I would more than likely call this a close-up rather than macro. Mind you the terms are loose and very subjective. But more importantly, to me at least, there is no real point of interest. It is a nice bunch of flowers. Depth of field is all over the place with petals on the left in sharp focus as well as the main flower. A crop of some of the petals on the left might help isolate the main flower. The second is a whole lot closer to a great macro shot in my mind. Very close in fact. You are definitely on the right track. You have used depth of field to isolate 1 stamen but and this is my interpretation, you have left the other 2 blurry. The sharp one is great but the blurry ones draw attention away from it. The background is wonderfully blurred but I feel if you had the three stamens in sharp focus it would be better. Just enough depth of field to include everything of importance and no more, shallow enough depth of field to blur the undesirable and no less. It can be difficult to get right. MSL points out the composition is not quite right and I agree with that assessment. Best thing is you are in there and having a real go and giving that K-7 a great workout. I can't wait to see more of your work. Thank you for your kind words, I am definately taking all this in and will use it the next chance I get. Hopefully with more practice I will improve

02-11-2014, 01:17 AM	#14
eaglem Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Perth Western Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 43,144	You've all made some very valid points about your Macro photography and I can see by putting in thought and practicing your shots I'm seeing improvement. Not all about Macro is getting razor sharp focus, you can have crisp focus but if there is noise in the shot it won't look too sharp. I feel it is important to remove as much noise as you can from the shots you take, especially low light shots to get that eye grabbing image. I use Photoshop CS6 and use the noise removal program it offers in "filters" first then I'll run the image through Topaz DeNoiser for a finer finish. If the focus is slightly out I'll use Focus Magic to correct it. My camera is always set on Tav and my shutter speed mainly on 250/sec and aperture at F11 but that will vary depending on the light available at the time. Hope this helps you guys.

02-11-2014, 08:54 AM	#15
slowpez Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: South Carolina, USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 18,462	Originally posted by eaglem You've all made some very valid points about your Macro photography and I can see by putting in thought and practicing your shots I'm seeing improvement. Not all about Macro is getting razor sharp focus, you can have crisp focus but if there is noise in the shot it won't look too sharp. I feel it is important to remove as much noise as you can from the shots you take, especially low light shots to get that eye grabbing image. I use Photoshop CS6 and use the noise removal program it offers in "filters" first then I'll run the image through Topaz DeNoiser for a finer finish. If the focus is slightly out I'll use Focus Magic to correct it. My camera is always set on Tav and my shutter speed mainly on 250/sec and aperture at F11 but that will vary depending on the light available at the time. Hope this helps you guys. I bow to the master. Great advice as always. Looking forward to seeing more of your shots j2. This was a nice start.