PDA

View Full Version : Camellia



massimomossi
04-07-2009, 08:23 AM
Taken last month at the Norfolk, VA, Botanical Gardens. They have an entire section devoted to camellias of all varieties, and they were among the very few trees flowering that early. I liked the blowsy sensuality of this blossom--which is almost past its prime.

Olympus SP-570UZ, 4.6mm zoom, super macro setting, handheld. Cloudy late afternoon light. Minimally cropped, sharpened, and increased saturation in PSE7.

Thank you for looking, and comments welcome as always.

Massimo

Julie Kenward
04-07-2009, 12:38 PM
Massimo, for me, there is a little too much soft area in this image. You've got some of the stamen in focus but so much of the rest is really soft. I'm not familiar with Olympus cameras but it looks like this is a point-n-shoot...if it were a DSLR I would tell you to stop down the aperture to get more of the flower in focus.

I'm also not sure I care for the spotty light on the one petal. I think this is a good image - but it could have been great had there been more even lighting and better depth of field. Try backing off with the point-n-shoot camera and doing a little more cropping in post-production. I think you might like the final result better.

massimomossi
04-07-2009, 01:29 PM
Hi Jules,

Thanks for the comments--the Olympus SP-570UZ is actually capable of aperture adjustments, and has most of the other controls you have on an SLR. Autofocus is a bit tricky, but yes, I could have stopped down (but probably not handheld in a breeze). And I was working in super macro mode to get as close into the flower as I could.

The camellia pictured is a variegated variety--so what look like hot spots on a red petal are actually white streaks and splotches native to the flower. The OOF character appealed to me because it suggests an enveloping sort of look, but perhaps I've overdone it.

Massimo

Julie Kenward
04-07-2009, 02:02 PM
Massimo, the main thing to remember here is that this is YOUR image. If you like it that's what really matters. I look at the middle area of your image and it seems like there is little-to-no light there and photography is really all about the light - not just the colors and the composition - although those can certainly make or break an image. If you had used flash or a reflector you might have been able to get a more illuminated image in that center area and that, I feel, would have made a big difference in the overall image.

Mike Moats
04-07-2009, 06:37 PM
Hey Massimo, I would also like to see a little more focus and a little more light in the center area.

Gus Cobos
04-07-2009, 07:49 PM
Hi Massimo,
I like what you were trying to do here...the flower and image is soft and under exposed...agree with Julie and Mike on the techs. question for you...on your point and shoot, do you have the capability of going fully manual, even on the focusing? Because it seems that even in the super macro mode designation that your camera has, you have exceeded its focusing range (you came in too close)...:cool:<!-- / message -->