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| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 63 |
Dec 22 |
Comment |
Hi Barbara: In my introduction I go into some detail, then in a short reply to Priscilla I go into a little more detail. Beyond that I need to explain a little more about black lighting. Wikipedia has technical info. on black light, then if you go on Amazon you will find many types of black light bulbs listed. I use two 18" 15 watt fluorescent type tubes in standard 18" long fluorescent fixtures mounted in small wood cabinets I constructed. I use two lights, one on each side of the arrangement, then the room has to be totally dark when you take the picture of your arrangement. Hope this info help, I can explain further if need be. |
Dec 20th |
| 63 |
Dec 22 |
Reply |
Hi Priscilla: YES--it was fun to compose this picture from a collection of glass pieces we had on hand. The very bottom part of the picture is a 14" round glass platter with a radial design, I arranged the various small glass pieces on top the platter in a pleasing arrangement. It took a lot of patience to get every little detail just right. |
Dec 20th |
| 63 |
Dec 22 |
Comment |
Hi Priscilla: Creative picture of the Lily flower. Like your white "informal border" however I think on the right it has infringed too much into the lily flower. You have used a really slim jim vertical format so the images seems a little squeezed in the frame to me, however that was your vision here. You could experiment on format width and make it a little wider, that would allow stroke to not infringe on the lily flower on the right border.
I think what ever post processing tools you need to create the image to your liking is certainly okay. All of the tools in what ever post processing program you use have been put there to use. Just my thoughts !! |
Dec 16th |
| 63 |
Dec 22 |
Comment |
Hi Barbara, Interesting picture of a bowl of blue berries. Regarding lighting; in my humble opinion the shadows need some detail, not just jet black with no detail at all. Charlie and Alane have mentioned this. Regarding composition; with this picture each photographer will have their own idea so it becomes very subjective. To me I would have moved back somewhat and included the top most berry in the frame, think the sides of the frame are okay. Priscilla has mentioned "too up Close". Other members have mentioned certain other aspects, so will not repeat those. Good choice of subject. |
Dec 16th |
| 63 |
Dec 22 |
Comment |
Hi Charlie: Very nicely done creative Lily picture in all aspects: mood lighting, very interesting dark background with some detail and texture, just the right border color and the right brightness on the border and not too thick in size. I can see from your original a real possibility using a vertical format with the 3 flowers arranged in an artistic manner. |
Dec 16th |
| 63 |
Dec 22 |
Comment |
Hi Alane: A very interesting picture of a very unusual devise. Overall lighting is a little flat but it is in keeping with the neutral beige background. You mention being part of a tour group; sometimes this is the only way to have access to some subjects, however I find photographing with a tour group to be challenging and you did well under the circumstances. |
Dec 16th |
| 63 |
Dec 22 |
Comment |
Hi Neal: This image is quite a departure from your usual "bug" pictures which are always well done. This picture is very likely an "original" as I doubt there is another one exactly like it. It was a really good choice to leave the velvet in place as it gives the picture some perspective and depth. Nice creative experiment. |
Dec 16th |
| 63 |
Dec 22 |
Comment |
Hi Barbara: Welcome to Group 63. I really like the overall lighting, mood and impact of your Orchid picture against a dark background. Our other members have made some good constructive comments I will not repeat. One area I would like to mention is parts of the orchid flower do not seem to be as tack sharp as I think they could be with 3 stacked pictures. You can experiment using a smaller F stop like f/11 or even f/16 for a little better depth of field, then some photographers use more images in their stacks also.
Also congratulations on your retirement from 30 years in the Texas Legislature, now you will have some time to enjoy your photography.
I like photographing orchids both hybrids and wild orchids found out in nature, am looking forward to seeing more of your orchids in future circuit rounds. |
Dec 15th |
| 63 |
Dec 22 |
Reply |
Hi Charlie: Excellent advise on darkening the background on the Glass Magic picture, your posted correction made all the difference in the world in the picture. Much better separation between the background and foreground. |
Dec 15th |
7 comments - 2 replies for Group 63
|
| 75 |
Dec 22 |
Reply |
Hi Marge: There could be a couple of reasons the entire flower is not as tack sharp as it could be.
If handheld you may not have been able to set focus as sharply as if you were tripod mounted, at this magnification you do not have to move very much back and forth to be just slightly out of focus. For this picture I would have my camera mounted on a sturdy tripod. I do not think your equipment is at fault here, the Canon 100mm macro lens has a good reputation for sharpness.
The other reason is lens diffraction. The sharpness of some lenses really degrades using an aperture of f/22. Some lenses suffer sharpness loss more than others at really small aperture settings. |
Dec 24th |
| 75 |
Dec 22 |
Comment |
Hi Charlie: You have put a lot of thought into how you wanted to present the finished product. You have created mood lighting, the dark background has some detail and texture, interesting composition, then your choice of border adds that finishing touch to this creative image of two flower. In viewing your original I can see some possibilities for creating an artistic vertical composition that could have a lot of impact. |
Dec 17th |
| 75 |
Dec 22 |
Comment |
Hi Marge: What a very special flower only blooming at midnight and then withering so soon. Your lighting with off camera flash produced a softness to the white flower; except for the black background this lighting more resembles hazy sun lighting with soft shadows in the inner flower. A lot of the time flash will cause harsh light on a white flower and black shadows, however not the case here.
The inner parts of the flower are not as tack sharp as I would have expected using flash at 1/250 second and f/22. |
Dec 17th |
| 75 |
Dec 22 |
Reply |
Hi Dan: I had the same landscape training you had regarding not having even numbers in my composition, so know exactly where you are coming from. For the most part I have moved away from that train of thought, I just do what looks good to me. |
Dec 17th |
| 75 |
Dec 22 |
Reply |
Hi Charlie: Thanks for your positive comments on Spring Cactus. I will try a darker red border and see what that looks like. |
Dec 12th |
| 75 |
Dec 22 |
Reply |
Hi Vincent: Photography is a life long learning experience. This digital age with the various post processing programs out there is far more complex than what we had to deal with back in the slide film era. With most of the better digital camera bodies today the technology is so good you can boost the ISO to at least ISO 800 or even higher if need be without much digital noise. What little digital noise that may occur can easily be removed in post processing. |
Dec 5th |
| 75 |
Dec 22 |
Comment |
Hi Judy: This picture of a white lily is quite impressionistic in the mood it conveys to the viewer. The soft out of focus background supports the lily flower very well. Composition is very pleasing, think you made a good choice in flipping the picture. Well done! |
Dec 4th |
| 75 |
Dec 22 |
Comment |
Hi Dan: This picture of a lichen is what I would refer to as a creative abstract, to me there is no way to determine this is an image of a lichen. Composition works well, your chosen well out of focus background is wonderful as it blends perfectly with the lichen subject. Really nice color harmonies in this picture and very well done. |
Dec 4th |
| 75 |
Dec 22 |
Comment |
Hi Vincent: Blue and gold always work together very well. The angle of the tree trunk is pleasing running on a diagonal upward to the central part of the tree. The bark texture on the trunk of the tree is fairly sharp, perhaps not as sharply defined as it could be. You do not mention using a tripod, so assume you hand held the camera, I would say 1/80 of a second is borderline slow for handholding a picture like this. If handholding I would use at least 1/250 of a second. Perhaps you had your vibration reduction turned off, please let us know more technical details. Basic exposure is spot on. |
Dec 4th |
5 comments - 4 replies for Group 75
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12 comments - 6 replies Total
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