I have my doubts after the Glad/Snapdragon snafu. Thanks for looking.

[photolady95]

Yep. Zinnia. I grow these every year in my garden. They aren't hard to take care of and they bring Butterflies, bees and other bugs that I photograph.

Looks good. However a suggestion, using a smaller f stop, such as f8 to f22 would have gotten more details and sharpness of this flower.

[DW58]

Thanks. Shot a few with smaller apertures which helped with detail of Zinnia but also brought background more into focus which I thought distracted the eye somewhat from the flower. Chose this one as a happy medium. But I do appreciate the feedback.

[DW58]

I don't know what kind of background you have/had but this was in my back yard:



50mm f2 A lens, f16, flash on and at 1/180s.

Behind the Zinnia is a Cosmos about 8-10 inches away. As all those skinny Cosmos leaves came into focus the background became more of a distraction.

[photolady95]

Behind the Zinnia is a Cosmos about 8-10 inches away. As all those skinny Cosmos leaves came into focus the background became more of a distraction.

Could you not have changed position? I know about those Cosmos, those were in my garden too. But, if you used a smaller f stop the Cosmos leaves would have been out of focus and not a distraction. My Zinnia above was in front of other Zinnias and as you see, their leaves and stems are all out of focus.

[photolady95]

DW58 I apologize for posting my photo in your thread. I've removed my photo but left the other posts as I believe they can help you.

[DW58]

DW58 I apologize for posting my photo in your thread. I've removed my photo but left the other posts as I believe they can help you.

No apology necessary. I appreciate your input. Couldn't really change positions. We knew we'd be moving this summer and didn't put in much of a garden. Just stuck in a few flowers in some pretty poor soil but was conveniently close to the house. The Zinnia is only about a foot tall and the Cosmos behind it is not much wider than what you see in the image. Behind the Cosmos is dead, yellow grass which is not very attractive.


I wanted a solid green backdrop to emphasize the yellow of the Zinnia. Was shooting for a simple image of subject and unobtrusive background. f/5 made a bit but not much difference in DOF. Also an uninvited bug made an appearance in that image that I did not notice until I was back inside reviewing the shots. At f/5.6 the needle like leaves of the Cosmos were becoming more defined than I wanted. Would post an image so you could take a look but I delete what I don't like.


One other part of the equation is that since the Zinnia is so short I was lying on my side in an uncomfortable contortion trying hard not to squish my wife's Marigolds as I composed and focused.


Although I spent nearly ten years in the 80's and early 90's working in a photo lab and burning through quite a bit of film myself I just got my first dslr last December so I welcome any and all feedback and critique of my posted images. Thank you photolady.

[photolady95]

No apology necessary. I appreciate your input.

Thank you for that.

I can understand not being able to get where you really want to be to take photos. Sometimes it's harder than it looks when you start out. My Zinnias were really tall this year, over three feet high. My garden is in a large 8x3 foot box my nephew built for me two years ago. I plant Zinnias in one half of it, and Cosmos in the other half. The Cosmos were really tall this year also. Usually, they are close to the ground. I don't know why they grew so tall this year.

I started out in film also. And have many macro shots using that medium, and where I got interested in macros. I bought my first DSLR in 2009.

Perhaps next time you get a flower shot, you can then try my suggestions. I was glad to help you, though.
My flickr albums have shots of flowers and include the information on how I achieved these, f stop, lens used, ISO, etc. Take a look when you have time.

[DW58]

Thank you for that.

I can understand not being able to get where you really want to be to take photos. Sometimes it's harder than it looks when you start out. My Zinnias were really tall this year, over three feet high. My garden is in a large 8x3 foot box my nephew built for me two years ago. I plant Zinnias in one half of it, and Cosmos in the other half. The Cosmos were really tall this year also. Usually, they are close to the ground. I don't know why they grew so tall this year.

I started out in film also. And have many macro shots using that medium, and where I got interested in macros. I bought my first DSLR in 2009.

Perhaps next time you get a flower shot, you can then try my suggestions. I was glad to help you, though.
My flickr albums have shots of flowers and include the information on how I achieved these, f stop, lens used, ISO, etc. Take a look when you have time.

I'll definitely check out your flickr albums and pay attention to settings used to achieve certain results.


Up until recently we ran an onsite farm stand to sell our fruits, veggies, herbs, cut flowers, home made jams and gift items such as goat's milk soap, lotions, lip balms etc. For years we grew a large variety of flowers and herbs but I only had a Canon Powershot P & S back then. Now that I have a "real" camera the herbs and flowers are in short supply. The bright side is now that we're selling the farm I should have more time to spend behind the camera and travel a bit more often.


Thank you for the time spent commenting and offering advise to a digital newbie.

[Baytelphoto]

Like the colours, find it has a more painting look, and the flower it self is very present. I like photos with a lot of bokeh