apologies to dani, danny, skippy et. al..... (*)

Andy · May 28, 2005

the rhododendrons at my place are in full bloom. i got yelled at today by d.w. for shooting these, lots to do today she says, first barbecue and pool party later this afternoon! (i'd rather be shootin' :lol3) click the pics for full exifs. in post, for both shots: convert from raw with acr, processed in ps cs2 with minor curves adjustment and light sharpening (100, .4, 0).

(*) i'm in awe of the macro shooters we have here at dgrin... here's a humble try. comments, critique, all welcome!

canon 1Ds Mark II, handheld, with canon 100mm f/2.8 macro aboard.

canon 1Ds Mark II, handheld, with canon 50 f/1.4 aboard.

enjoy (stalling yardwork till the last minute) photography,

ginger_55 · May 28, 2005

I am so tempted, would be so easy to say the obvious, the nice effect is OOF.
(OK, it is bokeh, but bokeh is just nice OOF, is it not?)

Nice flowers, Andy. Any subject with the tech know how, and the practiced eye. Well, your pictures rock, even flowers.

So? What now?

ginger (I am going to pay for this, that I know.........wish you would get that running away icon, probably is there, but I don't have time to dig for it. This one is just not dramatic enough for my situations. :hide .)

bfjr · May 28, 2005

1st one works for me, like the fact you got a headshot

IMO perfect DOF on that 1st one

Yardwork

I have to go AWOL

MuskyDude · May 28, 2005

My name isn't Al, but I do like these compositions! That first one's got mojo, Andy.

AJ

4labs · May 28, 2005

Must be NY DW thing today.I have lived here three years and never had blooms like these.Worth all the sneezing.

Andy · May 28, 2005

ginger_55 wrote:

Well, your pictures rock, even flowers.

ginger, thanks so much

i really appreciate your comments and your humor.

Netgarden · May 28, 2005

Hi Andy and all,
If there "ain't" nothing to shoot, theres always a pretty flower around to practice on! Its already past one full flush and summer here now in southern Cal!

get those mowers going guys!

Andy · May 28, 2005

bfjr wrote:

1st one works for me, like the fact you got a headshot
IMO perfect DOF on that 1st one

Yardwork I have to go AWOL

thanks so much, ben- really appreciate you stopping by and commenting

patch29 · May 28, 2005

andy wrote:

i got yelled at today by d.w. for shooting these,

I think you need to change that to SWMBO, d.w. doesn't do it for us, what is d.w.? I think I can guess, but you never know?

Andy · May 28, 2005

patch29 wrote:

I think you need to change that to SWMBO, d.w. doesn't do it for us, what is d.w.? I think I can guess, but you never know?

yes, patch - and at 103lbs, 5' 4" she can kick my butt, so she is definitely "she who must be obeyed"

pathfinder · May 28, 2005

andy wrote:

the rhododendrons at my place are in full bloom. i got yelled at today by d.w. for shooting these, lots to do today she says, first barbecue and pool party later this afternoon! (i'd rather be shootin' ) click the pics for full exifs. in post, for both shots: convert from raw with acr, processed in ps cs2 with minor curves adjustment and light sharpening (100, .4, 0).

(*) i'm in awe of the macro shooters we have here at dgrin... here's a humble try. comments, critique, all welcome!

canon 1Ds Mark II, handheld, with canon 100mm f/2.8 macro aboard.

canon 1Ds Mark II, handheld, with canon 50 f/1.4 aboard.

enjoy (stalling yardwork till the last minute) photography,

Nice Skipper, Andy. I am not seeing Skippers here yet, but the rhododendrns have been pretty nice - from my backyard

Shima · May 28, 2005

My backyard, earlier today:

EDIT: must be a NY thing, though not NYC since I'm like an hour and a half way from the city

But yeah, they were beautiful today.

nzmacro · May 29, 2005

As we say here "Now we are cooking with natural gas".

Fine colourful work Andy. Sharp and clean and you are getting a good ratio there M8t. Well done sir.

Now don't forget about the water drops on a glass sheet, will ya.

Danny.

Andy · May 29, 2005

4labs wrote:

Must be NY DW thing today.I have lived here three years and never had blooms like these.Worth all the sneezing.

achoo!

Skippy · May 29, 2005

Very Nice Andy

andy wrote:

the rhododendrons at my place are in full bloom. i got yelled at today by d.w. for shooting these, lots to do today she says, first barbecue and pool party later this afternoon! (i'd rather be shootin' ) click the pics for full exifs. in post, for both shots: convert from raw with acr, processed in ps cs2 with minor curves adjustment and light sharpening (100, .4, 0).

(*) i'm in awe of the macro shooters we have here at dgrin... here's a humble try. comments, critique, all welcome!

canon 1Ds Mark II, handheld, with canon 100mm f/2.8 macro aboard.

canon 1Ds Mark II, handheld, with canon 50 f/1.4 aboard.

enjoy (stalling yardwork till the last minute) photography,

Well first of all " I LIKE 'EM " it's not easy to do Macro's at all, rarely do bugs sit still long enough for you to take a shot with a tripod, then you have to be almost on top of the bug, then there is the wind and breezes that just happen to kick up the instant you put your finger on the trigger, and the lack of light because your so close....... and then your gotta try and focus on the bugs eyeballs, and that is not an easy task at all to do.

You did good Andy.... thanks for sharing....... Skippy (Australia)

Andy · May 29, 2005

Netgarden wrote:

Hi Andy and all,
If there "ain't" nothing to shoot, theres always a pretty flower around to practice on! Its already past one full flush and summer here now in southern Cal!

get those mowers going guys!

thanks linda - so good to see you here!

Andy · May 29, 2005

pathfinder wrote:

Nice Skipper, Andy. I am not seeing Skippers here yet, but the rhododendrns have been pretty nice - from my backyard

thanks path - and thanks for sharing more rhodies!

Stan · May 29, 2005

At this time of year, unless, as is the case with one member from Tazmania who is posting beautiful autumn colours, there are plenty of macro opportunities around.

I have found that my 50mm olympus f/1.8 with a +2 and a +3 stacked, reversed, is about 1:1.5 magnification but without an adapter yet is awkward to hold.

Gus posts flowers all year round, beautifuly, late spring / early summer is stunning and should be captured in all its glory

The original is on http://stan.smugmug.com/photos/23373343-O.jpg as an 8 x 10 have a look it is on my wall It was shot at 400mm though

this was 100mm macro @ f/2.8

I am not sure about the auto in raw processing for CS2 it seems a little extreme

Andy · June 1, 2005

Shima wrote:

My backyard, earlier today:

EDIT: must be a NY thing, though not NYC since I'm like an hour and a half way from the city But yeah, they were beautiful today.

shima nice to see you here at dgrin

thanks for stopping and commenting. love your rhody.

Andy · June 3, 2005

nzmacro wrote:

Now don't forget about the water drops on a glass sheet, will ya.

Danny.

can you tell me more about this?

Rufio220 · June 3, 2005

I have rhododendron's at my house and i've take'n some shots of them but none that nice. But the weather in Oregon this year made it a little hard.

Jekyll & Hyde · June 4, 2005

J: Nice compositions and great colors Andy.

H: I know you like to excel, so I'll kick in my $0.02 worth of critique.

J: I'm not sure if focus was slightly off on the Skipper (or it could have been a factor of the shutter speed), so that a lot of sharpening was needed? This tends to increase the contrast in certain areas while the rest of the photo maintains a nice softness of illumination.

H: If I know that I'll be sharpening a pic quite a bit, I'll try to leave the contrast in those areas at a lower level beforehand (usually by dropping the level of the highlights). Highlights can be so problematic in insect macros anyway.

J: The strong contrast also magnifies those darn sharpening halos. Sometimes I'll try to clone those out along the edges as a final step in Post.

H: As I look at the image more, I really am liking the angle of the light. Nice capture.

J: In the second shot, I can certainly see your (trademark) well though out compositional process.

H: I like everything about the photo (and that bit of flower in the lower left is absolutely necessary to the composition).

J: My only wish would be that the flowers in the lower right were part of the sharp focus, that way they'd complete the ring and draw the eye back toward the left, where you can circle around again.

H: Sometimes I'll take several shots (with different focal points) from the same position, so that I can combine them later in Post. I know, it's "cheating," but hey, somebody had to beat the Kobayashi Maru.

J: I know Andy that you're aware of all these techniques. I primarily wanted to post them for any other interested party.

H: Just returning the favor that you so freely lend.
J&H

Andy · June 4, 2005

jekyll and hyde

Jekyll & Hyde wrote:

J: I'm not sure if focus was slightly off on the Skipper (or it could have been a factor of the shutter speed), so that a lot of sharpening was needed? This tends to increase the contrast in certain areas while the rest of the photo maintains a nice softness of illumination.

H: If I know that I'll be sharpening a pic quite a bit, I'll try to leave the contrast in those areas at a lower level beforehand (usually by dropping the level of the highlights). Highlights can be so problematic in insect macros anyway.

J: The strong contrast also magnifies those darn sharpening halos. Sometimes I'll try to clone those out along the edges as a final step in Post.

wow i really appreciate your thoughtful critique - i'm going to apply your suggestions at the next edit!

thanks so much

andy

nightingale · June 4, 2005

andy wrote:

wow i really appreciate your thoughtful critique - i'm going to apply your suggestions at the next edit!

thanks so much

andy

While PF was taking pictures of the purple rhododendron, I took one of the red...

Love the shots!!

apologies to dani, danny, skippy et. al..... (*)

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