Activity for User 69 - Tom Pickering - info@photopicks.net

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1433 Comments / 1336 Replies Posted

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Group Round C/R Comment Date Image
24 Aug 22 Comment Love the flower but I feel it is a little overwhelmed by the background being so close in color and tone. I also agree with Carol that the flower needs a bit more room in the composition. Aug 23rd
24 Aug 22 Reply This makes for a much better composition Carol. Nicely done. Aug 23rd
24 Aug 22 Reply Guilty as charged, I’m afraid. d:¬{( Aug 23rd
24 Aug 22 Reply I like your result. Guess I should have spent more time with the image. d;¬{D Aug 23rd
24 Aug 22 Comment Quite a bit of impact here Lance. The petals almost disappear into the white background so that the center of the sunflower shows up right away. Though the soft leaf and stem imply depth, my eye wishes for more dimensionality in the petals and center - perhaps a different tonal choice for the yellow would offer that. Still, this is a striking artistic presentation. Aug 22nd
24 Aug 22 Comment This evokes an emotional response right away. A very unique and creative presentation Fred. I can't think of anything to improve on what you’ve done. Bravo! Aug 22nd
24 Aug 22 Comment Wow! This is so soothing to study. The background is tonally very close to the flower which overwhelms it a bit, but further study helps the flower to emerge. The softness of the composite elicits a feeling of peace.

One thing that really distracts me is the orientation of the flower in the composition. Here’s a version flipped horizontally. Thoughts?		 Aug 22nd
24 Aug 22 Comment Lovely flowers Bev! The background certainly helps to pop the flowers well without distracting.

I feel you over-sharpened the flowers a bit, making them a bit crispy which takes away from the natural softness that the flowers present.

I overlayed the original main flower over your result, added a touch of clarity, and then did some targeted dodging and burning. Thoughts?		 Aug 22nd
24 Aug 22 Reply Agreed. This was a wide-open aperture so not enough DOF. [sigh] Aug 2nd
24 Aug 22 Reply That does pop the flower more, but I think there’s a bit too much saturation in the flower now. Hmmm... Aug 1st
24 Aug 22 Reply I think you’re right about the name of the plant. I'll look at blurring the leaf more. Aug 1st
5 comments - 6 replies for Group 24
53 Aug 22 Comment Gorgeous, Arabella! Great detail in the insect and the background sets it off well.

I tried a different crop and removed the leaves in the upper left that tended to draw some attention away from the insect. Thoughts?		 Aug 22nd
53 Aug 22 Comment I definitely feel that cropping is needed here to draw the eye through the image. I like the top crop that Arabella came up with and the bottom crop that Rusty did. So, here’s a combination of the two. Thoughts? Aug 22nd
53 Aug 22 Comment Love the result of the filter on this great portrait of the baby owl. Warming it up was a definite improvement. I've added a little “headroom” as Rusty suggested. Aug 22nd
53 Aug 22 Comment Love the composition - just the right blend of zones and textures to hold the viewer’s interest for a long time.

I had a go of popping the colors some. What do you think?		 Aug 22nd
53 Aug 22 Comment This appears to me to be a painting on stucco. Very unique processing and very unexpected. It’s amazing what we can come up with when we “play.” d;¬{D Aug 22nd
53 Aug 22 Comment Here’s my rendition based upon the others’ comments. What do you think? Aug 22nd
53 Aug 22 Reply I don’t have near enough when I look at some of the compositions I encounter in my Internet travels. Aug 22nd
53 Aug 22 Reply Any suggestions on how to add motion to the ship? Aug 22nd
53 Aug 22 Reply Thank you so much! d:¬{D Aug 22nd
53 Aug 22 Reply Any ideas on how to add the motion? Aug 22nd
53 Aug 22 Reply Pink? Because of the car the hood ornament came from? Aug 22nd
53 Aug 22 Reply I’ve been searching for a means of giving the “spacecraft” motion. So far I’ve been unsuccessful. d:¬{( Aug 22nd
6 comments - 6 replies for Group 53
95 Aug 22 Reply I started with the same rail and it made a big difference. Aug 23rd
95 Aug 22 Reply You can get a very inexpensive focus rail to start, like this: https://www.amazon.com/EXMAX-Focusing-Close-up-Shooting-Compatible/dp/B012SLQU2A/ref=mp_s_a_1_17?crid=XR5YU89UR25D&keywords=focus+rail+for+macro+photography&qid=1661264388&sprefix=Focus+rail%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-17 Aug 23rd
95 Aug 22 Comment This is one of the best images you’ve shared with the group Carol! This is definitely a wall-worthy result and something to be proud of. Bravo! Aug 22nd
95 Aug 22 Comment Would you be willing to share more details about your focusing method in this image?

Focus stacks are best accomplished with a focusing rail on a tripod and consistent lighting. By changing the lighting in some of the shots, you make it near impossible for Photoshop to properly align the images, since it uses the contrast to detect the edges. It’s best to focus on the closest part of the subject for the first image and then focus a little bit deeper into the subject with each subsequent image in the stack. If the resulting images are not in order when doing the merge in Photoshop, the software will have lots of problems figuring things out.		 Aug 22nd
95 Aug 22 Reply Sounds like a project for next month. d;¬{D Aug 22nd
95 Aug 22 Reply Thank you so much! d:¬{D Aug 22nd
95 Aug 22 Comment This is definitely a subject that cries for a stack to show more dimensionality. In lieu of that, I suggest cropping away some of the softer areas so that the viewer concentrates on the dimensions already captured.

I cropped your image, added a bit of clarity, contrast, and finished up with some targeted dodging and burning. Thoughts?		 Aug 22nd
95 Aug 22 Comment Excellent stack Stuart! Marvelous detail down to all the hairs along the edges of the petals. There is a bit of haze over the top third of the image, likely due to the lighting being close to the edge of the frame, but it’s nothing serious. As Pat indicated, there is a slight desire to see those missing “dots” at the right edge, but again not a big deal. Certainly a happy discovery in your viewfinder. d;¬{D Aug 22nd
95 Aug 22 Comment Gloria,

Welcome to the group and to this strange photographic pursuit called macro. The “focus” of this brand of photography is quite different than most others and different skills are needed to accomplish the goal, in addition to the concepts already learned for other types of photography.

One of the hardest things I had trouble getting through my head when I started with macro was to not adjust the focus at my macro lens. We need to set the lens at 1:1 and on manual and then leave it alone. “But how do I get things in focus?” Glad you asked. By either moving the subject or the camera until the area you want is in focus. When shooting handheld, that involves moving your body closer or farther from the subject. In the studio, an ideal area to do macro photography, you can do either. It’s suggested that you use a tripod whenever you can because camera shake makes macro photography very difficult.

I eliminated the butterfly from your image and cropped in a bit from the left and bottom to remove some distractions. Thoughts?		 Aug 22nd
95 Aug 22 Comment I think this is tremendous, Fran. Love the way it goes from detailed to soft gradually. My only wish would be for the very top of the flower to be in focus, but the art of the image makes my wish a nitpick. d;¬{D Aug 22nd
95 Aug 22 Reply Thanks. This is actually uncropped - it's the way I framed the shot. Aug 7th
95 Aug 22 Reply Perhaps more than necessary, but I wanted to make sure to capture all of the curves. Better too many than too few I figured. Aug 7th
6 comments - 6 replies for Group 95
17 comments - 18 replies Total

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