Macro First shots...

MC333 · 02-10-2015, 11:04 PM

My first shots... what am I doing right, or wrong... ?

Thanks.

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photolady95 · 02-10-2015, 11:31 PM

For one thing your aperture. Bump it up to F11 will give you better DOF and more in focus.

K McCall · 02-12-2015, 01:57 PM

Originally posted by MC333

My first shots... what am I doing right, or wrong... ?

Thanks.

I'm going to respectfully disagree with the above poster. If your intention is to have a thin depth of field, then f/1.8 is fine, although your lens is not going to perform optimally. Most lenses work best "stopped down" at an aperture two or three stops beyond wide-open (so in your case, f/2.8 or f/4). With flower shots, I try to find a real, concrete reason to take the shot. Ask yourself, "What about this scene is going to be special to the person who sees my photo?" And then use your settings to highlight what you want to come across. So in the first picture, maybe you like how the orchid almost looks like it's sticking its tongue at the viewer. Using more depth of field (like an aperture of f/4 or f/5.6) would get the "tongue" and the spotted parts in focus while still keeping the background blurry and out-of-focus.

Also for macro-type shots, the background is so important - that can be the difference between a shot you frame later and one that never makes it off the hard drive! The first picture has a nice background, but the second is a bit messy. I would have walked around a bit and tried from different angles. Sometimes, out in the wild, the shot just doesn't work.

Finally, I think you're missing some detail in your petals because magenta is notoriously difficult to shoot. Three things can help you out here: the quality of light you start out with, the settings you use, and the post-processing you do. Sometimes flat overcast lighting is the best situation for these flowers; sometimes more contrasty light is better. I find it often depends on the surface of the petal (i.e. some are almost sparkly, some are velvety, etc). For settings, under-exposing some can keep you from blowing out the red channel. Finally, in post-processing, you can have great control over how the magenta is expressed if you shoot in RAW and then manipulate each channel or color, depending on what software you use.

Hope that helps!

MC333 · 02-12-2015, 10:26 PM

Originally posted by K McCall

I'm going to respectfully disagree with the above poster. If your intention is to have a thin depth of field, then f/1.8 is fine, although your lens is not going to perform optimally. Most lenses work best "stopped down" at an aperture two or three stops beyond wide-open (so in your case, f/2.8 or f/4). With flower shots, I try to find a real, concrete reason to take the shot. Ask yourself, "What about this scene is going to be special to the person who sees my photo?" And then use your settings to highlight what you want to come across. So in the first picture, maybe you like how the orchid almost looks like it's sticking its tongue at the viewer. Using more depth of field (like an aperture of f/4 or f/5.6) would get the "tongue" and the spotted parts in focus while still keeping the background blurry and out-of-focus.

Also for macro-type shots, the background is so important - that can be the difference between a shot you frame later and one that never makes it off the hard drive! The first picture has a nice background, but the second is a bit messy. I would have walked around a bit and tried from different angles. Sometimes, out in the wild, the shot just doesn't work.

Finally, I think you're missing some detail in your petals because magenta is notoriously difficult to shoot. Three things can help you out here: the quality of light you start out with, the settings you use, and the post-processing you do. Sometimes flat overcast lighting is the best situation for these flowers; sometimes more contrasty light is better. I find it often depends on the surface of the petal (i.e. some are almost sparkly, some are velvety, etc). For settings, under-exposing some can keep you from blowing out the red channel. Finally, in post-processing, you can have great control over how the magenta is expressed if you shoot in RAW and then manipulate each channel or color, depending on what software you use.

Hope that helps!

Thank you! This is extremely helpful. I appreciate the time you took to guide me. I will try again soon and post some more.

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02-10-2015, 11:31 PM	#2
photolady95 Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: May 2009 Location: Cruising the forum watching his back Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,712	For one thing your aperture. Bump it up to F11 will give you better DOF and more in focus.

02-12-2015, 01:57 PM	#3
K McCall Veteran Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Dallas, TX Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 808	Originally posted by MC333 My first shots... what am I doing right, or wrong... ? Thanks. I'm going to respectfully disagree with the above poster. If your intention is to have a thin depth of field, then f/1.8 is fine, although your lens is not going to perform optimally. Most lenses work best "stopped down" at an aperture two or three stops beyond wide-open (so in your case, f/2.8 or f/4). With flower shots, I try to find a real, concrete reason to take the shot. Ask yourself, "What about this scene is going to be special to the person who sees my photo?" And then use your settings to highlight what you want to come across. So in the first picture, maybe you like how the orchid almost looks like it's sticking its tongue at the viewer. Using more depth of field (like an aperture of f/4 or f/5.6) would get the "tongue" and the spotted parts in focus while still keeping the background blurry and out-of-focus. Also for macro-type shots, the background is so important - that can be the difference between a shot you frame later and one that never makes it off the hard drive! The first picture has a nice background, but the second is a bit messy. I would have walked around a bit and tried from different angles. Sometimes, out in the wild, the shot just doesn't work. Finally, I think you're missing some detail in your petals because magenta is notoriously difficult to shoot. Three things can help you out here: the quality of light you start out with, the settings you use, and the post-processing you do. Sometimes flat overcast lighting is the best situation for these flowers; sometimes more contrasty light is better. I find it often depends on the surface of the petal (i.e. some are almost sparkly, some are velvety, etc). For settings, under-exposing some can keep you from blowing out the red channel. Finally, in post-processing, you can have great control over how the magenta is expressed if you shoot in RAW and then manipulate each channel or color, depending on what software you use. Hope that helps!

02-12-2015, 10:26 PM	#4
MC333 New Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 9 Original Poster	Originally posted by K McCall I'm going to respectfully disagree with the above poster. If your intention is to have a thin depth of field, then f/1.8 is fine, although your lens is not going to perform optimally. Most lenses work best "stopped down" at an aperture two or three stops beyond wide-open (so in your case, f/2.8 or f/4). With flower shots, I try to find a real, concrete reason to take the shot. Ask yourself, "What about this scene is going to be special to the person who sees my photo?" And then use your settings to highlight what you want to come across. So in the first picture, maybe you like how the orchid almost looks like it's sticking its tongue at the viewer. Using more depth of field (like an aperture of f/4 or f/5.6) would get the "tongue" and the spotted parts in focus while still keeping the background blurry and out-of-focus. Also for macro-type shots, the background is so important - that can be the difference between a shot you frame later and one that never makes it off the hard drive! The first picture has a nice background, but the second is a bit messy. I would have walked around a bit and tried from different angles. Sometimes, out in the wild, the shot just doesn't work. Finally, I think you're missing some detail in your petals because magenta is notoriously difficult to shoot. Three things can help you out here: the quality of light you start out with, the settings you use, and the post-processing you do. Sometimes flat overcast lighting is the best situation for these flowers; sometimes more contrasty light is better. I find it often depends on the surface of the petal (i.e. some are almost sparkly, some are velvety, etc). For settings, under-exposing some can keep you from blowing out the red channel. Finally, in post-processing, you can have great control over how the magenta is expressed if you shoot in RAW and then manipulate each channel or color, depending on what software you use. Hope that helps! Thank you! This is extremely helpful. I appreciate the time you took to guide me. I will try again soon and post some more.