White siberian iris...

[Katherine Enns]

Hi all, second week on this forum....second image. I am working at glacial speed, here. No worries about ME swamping this forum with images. I am learning how to shoot and process whites, which is old hat for most of you...but new chapeau for me.

Photographs here seem to have something extra, and this just has. well, siberian iris. Your comments and criticism are most welcome.

This was taken with Canon Xsi f/22, 1/50th, ISO 400, 100 mm. No flash, no tripod, Abkhazi Garden Victoria, BC in early April of 2009.

Thanks

Kat

[Fabs Forns]

Kat, your whites seem very good to me, and also good use of depth of field.
As a composition, you missed the tip of one of the sepals?, maybe cropping some more would make it look like image design.
If this were mine, I'd blur and burn all around the flowers to put more emphasis on them.

Keep up the good work :)

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Kat Lovely image !! I like Fabs suggestion of going tighter, maybe the clipping will be blessing !!!

btw for flowers you can use a diffuser and make pictures in harsh light ... diffused light looks great !!! .. do like the light for this one !!!!

[Julie Kenward]

Kat, this is a lovely image. I think the whites are right on and love your DOF on this one - leaving some of the plant foliage in place and visible. I agree that it could be blurred a bit more but that's up to you.

I would also consider cloning out the one brown leaf at the bottom left side right below the flowers as it tends to ruin the beautiful "alive" feeling of the image. Nice work overall!

[Katherine Enns]

Thanks Fabs, Al and Julie. Yes I missed the upper part of the perianth. And thanks re cropping, I hadnt thought of pulling it in further. I have actually taken a lot of the brown bits and wounds out. Missed the one between the two flowers right in the middle too. Funny how I dont see that till after its pointed out to me. After staring at it for fifteen minutes. I see quite a few comments on here regarding blurring backgrounds out that are part of the plant or neighbouring plants. I guess the question is, how much of the structure in the background compliments the image, and how much distracts from a focal point in the image. If I can figure out how to crop then blur without making it look bad, I will try it. THANKS!!

ke

[Fabs Forns]

Kat,

There's a small tutorial here:

http://birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=834

[Anita Bower]

Katherine:

I know what you mean about learning at a glacial pace. That is my pace, but, that is OK, so long as we are learning.

These are gorgeous Iris and you captured them well. I especially like the colors. The only changes I would make are cloning the remaining brown leaf, and darkening the bud in the upper left frame, as it pulls my eye away from the open flowers.

Re. blurring BGs. When you chose to shoot this at f22, you effectively decided to have a mostly sharp BG. For a blurred BG, I would use a more open aperture. I experiment with this all the time, shooting many frames of the same subject at different f stops.

Looking forward to more of you posts.

[Katherine Enns]

Thank you Fabs, I started to read the information you posted on your tutorial, and realized I would have to spend a few hours figuring this out. Glacial got even slower...

Thanks also Anita, because the botanical details interest me, I often shoot with as high DOF as I can get, thinking everyone wants to see the shapes of the blades etc. Maybe not, is what you are saying? I often end up using my photographs to help with the post field identifications, as my samples are never all that great or I dont press them in time, or collect badly. Thanks for the tip re shooting with different f stops to blur the background.

I can hardly wait to try again! Its right outside my door, if I can ever get out there.

[Anita Bower]

Katherine:

I'm NOT suggesting you should not shoot with high DOF. I'm just saying that by doing so, your intent was to get lots of detail in the BG, hence, blurring it would not be what you want to do. Your use of these detailed photos for post field ID is a great idea! I think I will use your idea when I can't identify something at the time of taking the photo.

One of the moderators on this forum, Mike Moats, takes photos with high DOF.

[Katherine Enns]

Hi Anita, thanks, no I understood what you meant. I have to have detail in my work photographs, and I suppose that has influenced my fun photographs. Its very useful to use photos to help with some idents, yes.

Kat