What a Difference a Day Makes!

[John Lowin]

This is response to Roman and Bob's suggestions on my previous post. (See my previous post) I grabbed my wife's cuticle scissors and a tweezer and planned to sneak up on my Rhododendron (in my yard) and look what I found. :-) Almost all buds had fully opened. Added some gaussian blur and some selective levels control here. C and C always welcome, I'm here to learn. - John

f/8 1/320 ISO 800
Canon 1D MkII
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
hh

[Bob Allen]

Wow, a much better flower cluster. BG much better in this version too. Exposure on corollas is great. That lens (my favorite) is sharp enough to show us the hairs on the outside of the corollas.

Totally fine as-is, but this is C&C, so I will nitpick.

To me, the star of the show is the flower at right, halfway down. Its stigma, 1 filament (upper right), & anther (lowermost) are a bit too hot. Note the tone of those in the other flowers for comparison. Either a flash artifact or stray sunlight hit them. Also, DOF for those parts in that flower is a bit shallow. Perhaps hit it with f/11 or 13 to bring it all in.

Flower at top-middle, 2 of the filaments are broken. Notice how those in other flowers make that upward sweep? Two of those in this flower don't. They may have been bumped or brushed against.

Again, I'm just nitpicking on a super-nice image. Thank you for sharing.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi John I find flower clusters difficult to photograph and you have a good one !!! ... great critique Bob !!!

Tech wise I might have gone with a slower shutter speed to lower the ISO ... if it was till !!! Did well cleaning the noise !!!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey John,
Don't you just hate that??? Nice assesment by Bob.....so don't give the wife the scissors back or the tweezers! Here's another tip for the future......as I think this is very nice but Flower clusters may be a 11 degrre of difficulty.....on a 1-10 scale. I hope Mike chime's in on this too but he is away......I spend more time cleaning up the BG and subject than I actually do taking the picture!!! In a controlled environment/ home/friend......you can do these things! What to do in public places/outdooors????.....concentrate more on the BG......clean up what you can (no trimming please!!!).....use props (bark/moss/rock/printed BG).....and work it!!! I am often laying on the ground (bring a mat)....face, pressed low.....trying to accomplish this. I stray from Mike here....as I use flash when I feel necessary......but the key is to try!.......heck, I am even exploring the shallow DOF areas and lord knows..... I am not comfortable there....and that is a good thing!!! I applaud your ability to explore and try new things and your ability to experiment!!! People should take an example from your MMDC image.....and broaden their horizons! I know I have!!! Very nice job on the cluster and way to adapt!

[John Lowin]

Hi Roman, I appreciate the input. The reason that I stayed at f/8 is that other BG flower clusters and branches would have been too crisp. I already selectively blurred the BG and darkened the LR blossom cluster, CR blossom behind the green leaves and CL blossom behind the stigma, filaments and anther of the LL blossom. The wind is frequently so strong here that a lot of our flowers get damaged before I can get them photographed. Bummer.

I'm a Canon shooter and just sent my Angle Finder in to repair service to see if they could figure out how to keep it from constantly falling off the camera. Bad time of the year to be without it with so many flowers in bloom, but I couldn't deal with it any more, so off it went. It's not a problem with the orchids as I shoot those on the breakfast room table and just use the normal finder. Thanks again for the guidance! - John


Hey John,
Don't you just hate that??? Nice assesment by Bob.....so don't give the wife the scissors back or the tweezers! Here's another tip for the future......as I think this is very nice but Flower clusters may be a 11 degrre of difficulty.....on a 1-10 scale. I hope Mike chime's in on this too but he is away......I spend more time cleaning up the BG and subject than I actually do taking the picture!!! In a controlled environment/ home/friend......you can do these things! What to do in public places/outdooors????.....concentrate more on the BG......clean up what you can (no trimming please!!!).....use props (bark/moss/rock/printed BG).....and work it!!! I am often laying on the ground (bring a mat)....face, pressed low.....trying to accomplish this. I stray from Mike here....as I use flash when I feel necessary......but the key is to try!.......heck, I am even exploring the shallow DOF areas and lord knows..... I am not comfortable there....and that is a good thing!!! I applaud your ability to explore and try new things and your ability to experiment!!! People should take an example from your MMDC image.....and broaden their horizons! I know I have!!! Very nice job on the cluster and way to adapt!

[John Lowin]

Hi Bob, Thanks for your input, it's appreciated. Re the stigma, filament and anther, no flash, but it could have been sunlight as the tree that was shading the flowers was really being blown around. Unfortunately the wind here has been tough, and is really taking a toll on our flowers. Often they get damaged before I can get out to photograph them. I'm sure that is what happened to the damaged filaments.

I would have preferred f/11 or /f13 if the darn flowers ever held still, but already being at ISO 800 on my 1D Mk II it gets pretty noisy. I guess I'll have to figure out some kind of wind barrier when I'm shooting in the yard. I can easily tone down the hot stigma, filament and anther, but I'm not adept enough to recreate the broken filaments. By tomorrow the blossoms will most likely not look as good as today, but I'll check and continue experimenting. Many thanks for your detailed input, This is truly a learning experience. Thank you. - John


Wow, a much better flower cluster. BG much better in this version too. Exposure on corollas is great. That lens (my favorite) is sharp enough to show us the hairs on the outside of the corollas.

Totally fine as-is, but this is C&C, so I will nitpick.

To me, the star of the show is the flower at right, halfway down. Its stigma, 1 filament (upper right), & anther (lowermost) are a bit too hot. Note the tone of those in the other flowers for comparison. Either a flash artifact or stray sunlight hit them. Also, DOF for those parts in that flower is a bit shallow. Perhaps hit it with f/11 or 13 to bring it all in.

Flower at top-middle, 2 of the filaments are broken. Notice how those in other flowers make that upward sweep? Two of those in this flower don't. They may have been bumped or brushed against.

Again, I'm just nitpicking on a super-nice image. Thank you for sharing.

[John Lowin]

Hi Al, If you'd could come up here and hold the flowers really still in our 25 mph breeze, I'd love to lower the ISO and slow the shutter speed. But these darn flowers just keep moving. I get no respect. - John


Hi John I find flower clusters difficult to photograph and you have a good one !!! ... great critique Bob !!!

Tech wise I might have gone with a slower shutter speed to lower the ISO ... if it was till !!! Did well cleaning the noise !!!

[Julie Kenward]

John, you're cracking me up with the "I get no respect" line!

This really is a beautiful image and I think you did the best with the circumstances. Yes, ISO 200 or 400 would have been better and maybe f11 or f13 would have given you more detail but, really, it's so nice as presented - you really made the most of it.

Only distraction I find is the one OOF filament on the left side of the frame about 1/2 way down. I'd really consider cloning it as my eye keeps going over there. Everything else is lovely and I look forward to seeing more!

[Bob Allen]

No wind lately here in southern California. In fact, it's been overcast with muted light, my favorite for close-ups. Just bring your Rhodo & equipment out here. I'll help hold the plant still ;7)

[Charles Wesley]

John,

I really like it. Clusters are very difficult for everyone. Agree with Roman about BG. They drive me crazy. Wind is the big problem for me. I use my two 42" PhotoFlex diffusers to block it at times or just walk away.

You can't get the dang photo all the time....
____________________
Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

[John Lowin]

Hi Julie, Bob and Al,

I have tried to address your OOF filament, and Bob's broken filaments. Al, your comments re lower ISO and slower shutter speed are unfortunately beyond my pay grade at this time. Roman and Charlie, I thank you both as well. Do you find this repost an improvement? Let me know what you think. Everyones comments are valued and greatly appreciated. - John


John, you're cracking me up with the "I get no respect" line!

This really is a beautiful image and I think you did the best with the circumstances. Yes, ISO 200 or 400 would have been better and maybe f11 or f13 would have given you more detail but, really, it's so nice as presented - you really made the most of it.

Only distraction I find is the one OOF filament on the left side of the frame about 1/2 way down. I'd really consider cloning it as my eye keeps going over there. Everything else is lovely and I look forward to seeing more!