Some flowers i stumbled across and liked this morning.

roscowgoroscowgo Registered Users Posts: 127 Major grins
edited September 18, 2012 in Other Cool Shots
IMG0377-X2.jpg

This second one didn't do much for me at first, but the more i look at it, the more it reminds me of a dog shoving it's nose into a camera lens.

IMG0374-X2.jpg

This is my favorite shot, but i got clumsy with a brush and left some highlight halos around the center. Ill be going back and touching that up some time soon.

IMG0381-X2.jpg

Comments

  • roscowgoroscowgo Registered Users Posts: 127 Major grins
    edited September 15, 2012
    IMG0381-X2.jpg

    That looks a little better to me.
  • DogdotsDogdots Registered Users Posts: 8,795 Major grins
    edited September 15, 2012
    I like how the light catches the underside of the flower in the first shot. If you don't mind me saying .. I might crop in on it more.
    Mary
    www.Dogdotsphotography.com
  • roscowgoroscowgo Registered Users Posts: 127 Major grins
    edited September 16, 2012
    Dogdots wrote: »
    I like how the light catches the underside of the flower in the first shot. If you don't mind me saying .. I might crop in on it more.

    Absolutely...say away. I need all the c&c i can get!

    Do you think more gone from the top or sides of the image?
  • DogdotsDogdots Registered Users Posts: 8,795 Major grins
    edited September 16, 2012
    roscowgo wrote: »
    Absolutely...say away. I need all the c&c i can get!

    Do you think more gone from the top or sides of the image?

    You could go vertical or horizontal on your image. It's all in what looks good to your eye and how you want the flowers presented. You may have to clone out other flowers .. like the ones in the lower left and right.

    Work with your white balance to brighten it up some. It will really show off the white clouds and the light hitting your flower thumb.gif

    Have fun shooting and editing :D
    Mary
    www.Dogdotsphotography.com
  • JCJC Registered Users Posts: 768 Major grins
    edited September 16, 2012
    Take a look at your backgrounds, and get used to looking at the whole image when you compose your shot, not just your subject. Look at how your subject fits into the background or environment, and try to make the background frame the subject. In your first two images, the skyline cuts awkwardly across the flower cluster. You could have knelt down and shot upwards to frame darker flowers against a light sky (which would require careful exposure or fill flash to illuminate the flowers), or you could have held the camera high and shot downwards slightly to put light colored flowers against dark hills (again, this would require careful exposure so the in camera meter didn't attempt to expose for the hills). You could try a very tight crop of the in focus flower on the first.

    I think this is why the third, your favorite, is in fact, your favorite. The flowers are isolated, for the most part. The framing is a little awkward, you have lots of vertical elements in stems and petals but nothing in the larger framing accentuates that. I'd try a tight portrait crop on that one. You might also have tried framing it so that the two stems converged right at the bottom of the frame, instead of being bluntly cut at the bottom.

    Try experimenting with using your on camera flash for fill light. Have you ever played with the flash power settings? Turn the flash down to 1/3 or so, and experiment using it for fill flash on backlit subjects, that way you don't have to do so much post processing.
    Yeah, if you recognize the avatar, new user name.
  • DogdotsDogdots Registered Users Posts: 8,795 Major grins
    edited September 16, 2012
    roscowgo I agree with what kolibri had to say. Composition and lighting is very key to getting a photo one will be pleased with. Also too it cuts down on editing time :D

    If you don't mind I edited your first photo to show you what I was thinking of. For editing I did a white and black balance adjustment along with some dodging on the flower petals. I also denoised it somewhat.

    **Forgot to mention I did clone out some of the other flowers on the lower left and the grass/hill in the lower right corner.

    i-rfqKRjT-L.jpg
    Mary
    www.Dogdotsphotography.com
  • roscowgoroscowgo Registered Users Posts: 127 Major grins
    edited September 16, 2012
    absolutely fine by me. I like what you've done with it.

    I really need to move ps to my desktop machine, but the laptop has the card reader. Laziness on my part.

    Must repeat to self for composition.... keep is simple stupid, keep it simple....
  • DogdotsDogdots Registered Users Posts: 8,795 Major grins
    edited September 16, 2012
    roscowgo wrote: »
    absolutely fine by me. I like what you've done with it.

    I really need to move ps to my desktop machine, but the laptop has the card reader. Laziness on my part.

    Must repeat to self for composition.... keep is simple stupid, keep it simple....

    Glad to hear you didn't mind me doing some work on your photo. PS is your best friend :D

    Look forward to seeing more of your photos in the future thumb.gif
    Mary
    www.Dogdotsphotography.com
  • roscowgoroscowgo Registered Users Posts: 127 Major grins
    edited September 17, 2012
    Did I oversharpen the stupid things? is that where the halo is coming from on those out of focus background flowers?
  • DogdotsDogdots Registered Users Posts: 8,795 Major grins
    edited September 17, 2012
    roscowgo wrote: »
    Did I oversharpen the stupid things? is that where the halo is coming from on those out of focus background flowers?


    I see a tad of halo in your first photo in your first posting. It's on the yellow flower on the right. I see it on the petals near the green stem. Could be the light too that's shinning through.
    Mary
    www.Dogdotsphotography.com
  • roscowgoroscowgo Registered Users Posts: 127 Major grins
    edited September 17, 2012
    I was looking at the last image, the one that got re-edited, the out of field flowers in the back seem to have strong halos.
  • DogdotsDogdots Registered Users Posts: 8,795 Major grins
    edited September 17, 2012
    roscowgo wrote: »
    I was looking at the last image, the one that got re-edited, the out of field flowers in the back seem to have strong halos.

    I don't see strong halo's. Could be my monitor isn't showing it and yours is headscratch.gif
    Mary
    www.Dogdotsphotography.com
  • EaracheEarache Registered Users Posts: 3,533 Major grins
    edited September 17, 2012
    roscowgo wrote: »
    I was looking at the last image, the one that got re-edited, the out of field flowers in the back seem to have strong halos.

    I think what you may be seeing is chromatic aberration (red/blue fringing) rather than "halos". Some lens' produce these artifacts but it can be corrected/minimized in many photo editing programs.
    Eric ~ Smugmug
  • roscowgoroscowgo Registered Users Posts: 127 Major grins
    edited September 18, 2012
    Dogdots wrote: »
    I don't see strong halo's. Could be my monitor isn't showing it and yours is headscratch.gif
    Earache wrote: »
    I think what you may be seeing is chromatic aberration (red/blue fringing) rather than "halos". Some lens' produce these artifacts but it can be corrected/minimized in many photo editing programs.

    I'm thinking it may be a combination of monitor, yellow on blue, and dof.

    At least what I'm seeing.... I only notice it on the out of focus petals of the flower.
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