[Tonytee]

I am aware there are numerous issues regarding this photograph. I did the best I could having taken this shot on a day with harsh sunlight. The white fringing is from adding some sharpness. Please feel free to offer comments/suggestions.

Many thanks,

Antonio

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[Bruce Clark]

Tony, you really are making it hard for yourself. Harsh sunlight is not the ideal medium for roses. If that is the only option you have, you really need to soften the light somehow with scrims or reflectors. It need not be too elaborate, a piece of white cardboard will suffice. A small dose of diffuse fill flash can also work wonders.

Sharpening: As soon as you see any artifacts at all from sharpening, you have already gone too far and need to back off a bit. While sharpening examine your image at 1:1 and as soon as you see any halo effect or artifacts, stop and turn the sharpening down. There are many sharpening techniques some are better than others.

Aperture: f5.6 is nowhere territory for me. With flowers I go for either wide depth of field (f11-f16) or shallow (f2.8). I don't know your lens but if f5.6 is its widest aperture then there is little you can do at that end. It's sharpest aperture or "sweet spot" is likely to f8, so I would start there and work towards f11 to get maximum sharpness from your lens.

[Tonytee]

Tony, you really are making it hard for yourself. Harsh sunlight is not the ideal medium for roses. If that is the only option you have, you really need to soften the light somehow with scrims or reflectors. It need not be too elaborate, a piece of white cardboard will suffice. A small dose of diffuse fill flash can also work wonders.

Sharpening: As soon as you see any artifacts at all from sharpening, you have already gone too far and need to back off a bit. While sharpening examine your image at 1:1 and as soon as you see any halo effect or artifacts, stop and turn the sharpening down. There are many sharpening techniques some are better than others.

Aperture: f5.6 is nowhere territory for me. With flowers I go for either wide depth of field (f11-f16) or shallow (f2.8). I don't know your lens but if f5.6 is its widest aperture then there is little you can do at that end. It's sharpest aperture or "sweet spot" is likely to f8, so I would start there and work towards f11 to get maximum sharpness from your lens.

Thank you very much,

Antonio

[Bruce Clark]

Tony

I can't recommend this video highly enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf1woH6JOxY

[Tonytee]

Tony

I can't recommend this video highly enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf1woH6JOxY

Again, you are correct in that I need to bring the scrim with me, I still have an issue with trusting the meter. That will not be the case next time.

Many thanks. I will view the video later, it is 3:00 am here now.

Antonio

[BrianR]

If the harsh sun is getting you down, you can stand between the sun and the flower to put it into shade (camera set on a tripod). Though I'd also highly recommend a collapsible 5-in-1 reflector, even a relatively small one (~60cm) works great for flower closeups and is very versatile.

And don't be shy about bracketing your exposure, flowers can be tricky

[Tonytee]

If the harsh sun is getting you down, you can stand between the sun and the flower to put it into shade (camera set on a tripod). Though I'd also highly recommend a collapsible 5-in-1 reflector, even a relatively small one (~60cm) works great for flower closeups and is very versatile.

And don't be shy about bracketing your exposure, flowers can be tricky

Thank you very much for your assistance. I agree with everything you have stated and I will be sure to use your advice in the very near future.

Rgds,

Antonio