Flower pics

Lostkat · 24 Apr 2006 at 07:15

I haven't posted any pics for yonks, and thought it was about time I did. With Mothers Day and me getting a new job, there have been some nice flowers around the house recently. Took a few shots using some natural light and a reflector where necessary, experimenting with angle and DOF. Any comments?

Unsure whether the green works in this, but I loved the contrast in colours between the pink and the lime green.

Not sure if the composition of this one works or not.

Marik · 24 Apr 2006 at 07:59

Wow, I really like the all!

Especially the cream rose one, looks really lovely, I also like the watermark thing

Well done, Well Impressed

Love Dan

Zheka · 24 Apr 2006 at 08:10

Very very nice shots.
N3 doesn’t work for me. Green leaf is distracting.

MrSix · 24 Apr 2006 at 08:14

1, 2 and 4 for the win.

Composition is well thought out and executed nicely.
Lovely saturation and tack sharp images.

Richard T · 24 Apr 2006 at 09:06

Zheka said:
Very very nice shots.
N3 doesn’t work for me. Green leaf is distracting.

what he said..... rest are great

Mohain · 24 Apr 2006 at 09:32

Great shots

I actually quite like the green in no. 3. As you said, it makes a nice contrast in colours.

Pickers · 24 Apr 2006 at 10:34

Any comments? You mean apart from they look amazing :eek:

?. Very nice!!
I really need to play around with dof...and finding a good focus

.

glitch · 24 Apr 2006 at 11:49

1: Standout shot for me. Only criticisms would what looks to be a damaged petal to the RHS of the frame and the DOF at the bottom left - for me it's too slightly too OOF and makes looking at the picture quite difficult.

2: Might be the monitor I'm on, but the bottom left of the shot looks burnt-out. I also don't think the composition works well and would prefer to see the two objects photographed seperately. The rose is close to perfect though - maybe needs a little more light directed into the petals but it's very, very good.

3: Get rid of the leaf and you've got another winner. I think a little bit of spot healing would help out with some of the florets closest to the centre of the flower head.

4: Nicely shot but I don't feel that the you've captured the rose in all its glory here - for me the image feels too two-dimensional and flat and I would have preferred more depth. The petals in the bottom left are slightly distracting too.

5: I prefer the composition of this one but the lighting is a bit dull and the top petal looks slightly damaged. I think the DOF might even be too shallow in this one.

Overall you've done very well, Kate. The shots of the gerbera are really good and I'd be very pleased if I'd taken them. You've got the texture of the petals in there and you've captured the feel of flower really well.

The magenta rose is very well done and you've captured it at just the right time in it's life-span. It's just open enough to get that lovely petal detail that you only really get from roses and it feels fresh and alive. Sometimes you see shots of roses that look like they are on their last legs, but this one is fresh and crisp.

Off-hand I can't remember what the green things are called, but they are very photogenic and are good subjects when bunched together. As I said above I don't feel the composition works well in 2, but a different grouping of might be more successful.

I think the light pink rose is your weakest subject on show here, partly because of the composition but mainly because the rose feels too tightly packed. For me, all the interest is at the very tip of the bud, but the flat petals that surround it don't really show it off in the best (aha) light.

Kate; how did you get your background so bright and white? Did you use white card for a backing and then set that as the white point in PS? And what colour reflector were you using?

themask70 · 24 Apr 2006 at 18:35

I like number 1 where you have used DOF to your advantage, all the rest are ok

Lostkat · 24 Apr 2006 at 21:16

Thanks for all the comments guys. I really appreciate them and can always take constructive criticism. I agree with most of them too. I thought the rose shots were 'nice', but they weren't particularly 'wow' or exciting. Someone said "that would make a good birthday card shot", and I'm inclined to agree. My technique on flowers seems to be improving though. I think it's all about capturing detail and using DOF to your advantage rather than trying to capture the whole flower.

Also, the rose photos were taken in the evening with the light dying. The light mostly comes from a flash which I bounced off the roof and then off the reflector to try and soften it to simulate natural light. Perhaps with natural light it would have looked better.

However, I still like the composition of the pink rose shot. I like the colour contrast between the lime green and the pink. It does break the "rules" of composition though, but hey... rules are made to be broken

The bottom left corner isn't blown for me, but is treading the fine line. I was a bit lazy here because I should really have burnt this in. Might have a play with it now.

glitch said:
Kate; how did you get your background so bright and white? Did you use white card for a backing and then set that as the white point in PS? And what colour reflector were you using?

The white background was actually the sky! I was lucky with these, because the sky was pretty dull (but still white) so I managed to get a good background and lighting. White point was set on the white sky in Rawshooter. I was using a reflector which was silver on one side, and white on the other. I forget which side I used for each shot, but it alternated. I tried a coloured background behind the flowers, but it removed all of the light from the shot and took away the light, airy feel to them.

Thanks again for all the comments. It's been a while, so it's nice to keep check on my technique etc.