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| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 65 |
Jul 23 |
Reply |
The reason I feel the need to manual focus I will explain.
Most people do not know where the auto focus establishes the focal point and most of the time it is wrong. Usually, the closest point on the subject will be locked in. That's what it looks like with your hibiscus. The edge of the bottom petal in the middle of the image is tack sharp. but the pistil is not sharp, the point you wanted to showcase. When you auto focus you can just hope the point you what sharp happens. When you manual focus you know it will be sharp.
When doing close-ups, the DOF is approx. 50% in front and 50% behind the focus point. This means the focal point in this image, the edge of the petal, on the bottom was the closest point of the hibiscus to the camera. So, half of the DOF on this side of the focal point was lost, there were no flower parts there. By manual focusing you put the focus point where you want it and not the camera so not to lose any DOF. If you manual focus I feel it's important to use a tripod but to me it's important to use tripods both with manual and auto focus.
There's a great web site that lets you see what the DOF is when shooting an image. dofmaster.com When it opens up click on the second choice down. You enter the info. camera, what lens length, f-stop and distance from the sensor plane to the subject. It tells you the DOF for that shot. For example Jodi on your shot of the hibiscus if you shot this at a distance of 5 ft. the DOF was about 2 1/2 inches. That means in this shot if the focal point was in the bottom petal edge you lost the DOF on this side and had only 1 1/4 in. DOF behind. This would explain why the pistils were not sharp along with hand holding.
I really feel if anyone wants to go to the next level, manual focus and tripods are a must. You really can't make an image tack sharp in post if it is not sharp to begin with. Especially an image with fine details such as a flower with fine hairs. |
Jul 20th |
| 65 |
Jul 23 |
Comment |
I like the composition with the stem coming in from the lower left. Really like how you worked the background. Feel it's sharp where it needs to be. I don't care for the results that Maria came up with. The left side of the front flower is too dark for my eye. Nice colors. |
Jul 19th |
| 65 |
Jul 23 |
Comment |
This image shows great patters the petals make. Makes a great study. Good to see that someone else is using a polarizer. I can't add much to what has been already said. Do you use a tripod? If you handheld, you would need to have a faster shutter speed. With the lens at 200 the shutter speed should be at least 1/200 sec. This is probably the cause of the image not being sharp. |
Jul 18th |
| 65 |
Jul 23 |
Comment |
This is one great shot. It looks like a page out of a book I have that's full of this kind of art. Beautiful. |
Jul 14th |
| 65 |
Jul 23 |
Comment |
I like your composition with the flower on a diagonal. would like to see the background darker. Like how you left a leaf on the stem. There's something wrong with f-35 and 1/2000 sec. I will guess this was taken at f-3.5. This would explain the sepals being sharp and the petals not sharp.
I really feel when doing this type of photography, you need to manual focus. If you manual focus doing close-ups like this, you need to realize the area of sharp focus will be about 1/2 in front and 1/2 behind the focus point. This is important so not to waste any of this area. This is the main reason I like to manual focus so not to waste the area of focus and control the amount of DOF. |
Jul 14th |
| 65 |
Jul 23 |
Comment |
I like how this image brings my eye in to the image from the lower left corner then up through to the orange flower parts which becomes the focal point. You said you wanted the stamens to be showcased. Hibiscus flowers are a bit different with the stamens and pistils on the same stalk. At the tip are five pistils the female parts. The stamens are below the pistils with maybe 100 of these male parts. I will guess you wanted to showcase the 5 pistils.
I love your crop but for my eye I would like for you to have positioned yourself so that the pistils would bisect the black triangle in the background. This would place the pistils at about 2 o'clock. This would eliminate the merger of the stamens with the petals and utilize this space better.
You mentioned you handheld, so did you manual focus or auto focus? The sharpest area in the image is the petal edge in the bottom center. If you wanted the pistils to be showcased, you should have manual focused on them. I also feel with handholding you should have used a faster shutter speed. You shot using 120mm so the shutter speed should have been at least 1/120sec. or faster.
This is a beautiful image, love the background but it is not sharp. I feel it's important to manual focus. |
Jul 14th |
| 65 |
Jul 23 |
Reply |
I probably agree with Melanie. This would lighten the flower making the brighter area larger and to the right, but I would only brighten it to the right about an inch or so. This would probably help the composition by including more of the right flower as the brighter area. The moves the focal point off center and to the right. As it is now the brightest area is centered. I like how the light falls off on the flower on the right keeping my eye in the frame and yet there's detail in this area. |
Jul 13th |
| 65 |
Jul 23 |
Comment |
This is one beautiful shot. I love the composition and the crop. Nice colors and depth to the image. I love the different levels of sharpness giving great depth to the image. This is truly art that could hang on a wall. Nice work! |
Jul 13th |
| 65 |
Jul 23 |
Reply |
Thanks for your comments, Jodi. I tend to agree with adding more room on the top. I feel it can work both ways. I love to hear everyone's ideas. I should have seen that the image needed more space on top when I was taking this shot using a tripod.
I use a tripod on all my shots. When using a tripod, it does several things. It tends to slow a person down and allows you take the time to look at all corners and areas of the frame before taking the shot. I normally would have caught this being too tight on the top. I could fix this in post, but I like to get it right in the camera. Using a tripod also allows you more flexibility as to f-stops and DOF. Tripods will give you much sharper images every time than handheld images. If an image is not sharp, they really cannot be totally fixed in post. |
Jul 13th |
| 65 |
Jul 23 |
Reply |
What you said is right about it being our photo is true to a point. we need to be open to other ideas and other skill levels. That's what these groups are all about.
Thank you for what you have done with my image. I really like what you have done and feel you have made it better. This does work for me, and I like it very much. When I removed the stem and leaf, I did a little different. I did not like the results. What you did works. Very nice, Thank you!
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Jul 12th |
| 65 |
Jul 23 |
Reply |
See the reply I have written for Fran's comments. |
Jul 11th |
| 65 |
Jul 23 |
Reply |
I agree with giving the leaf more room. |
Jul 11th |
| 65 |
Jul 23 |
Reply |
I removed the top leaf and removed the stem on the left, but it just did not work for me. I did not like the way it looked. I would welcome anyone trying to see what you can do with the image. I just think as Melanie suggested it needs a little more room on top. I think the leaf and stem are important, it gives the image the balance it needs with this composition with the size of the flower.
The flowers are about 3/4 of an inch in size. |
Jul 11th |
6 comments - 7 replies for Group 65
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6 comments - 7 replies Total
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