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ML Diggs
04-04-2010, 12:46 PM
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n232/mldiggs/Flower%20Photos/IMG7D-0416OPSharpNRWeb-1.jpg


My first photo post here on bpn. I love these garden flowers (a windflower anemone). Individual blooms don't last very long, so I plucked this one, took it to the back deck where it was protected from the wind and shot it under the diffused light of our plastic deck roof. This was shot with the following:

Canon 7D at ISO 100 natural light
Manual mode f/9 at 1/50s
100mm macro, mirror lock-up, and remote release

I did some other compositions of this flower corner placement of the flower and with extension tubes for higher mag, but then we lost that cool blue color, so I like this one best.

Jerry van Dijk
04-04-2010, 03:45 PM
Hi ML, welcome to the forum! Lovely shot as a first post. I like the colors and details, but I wish it had slightly more DOF so that the flower center wouldn't be OOF and we would see some more of those stamen in focus. I also like your 'rising sun' composition.
I also think you helped me ID the anemone species I just put in my garden (see a few posts down).
Looking forward to seeing more of your images!

Julie Kenward
04-04-2010, 08:21 PM
Welcome, ML! (Do you have a first name we could call you by? Most BPN'ers go by their full real names. If you'd like to change yours contact Alfred Forns).

Love that bright blue color! I think Jerry is right - I'm actually surprised that f9 didn't get you the DOF you needed to get all the center and all the stamen in focus. Might bump that ISO up to 200 and see if you could get a little quicker ss and see if that's the problem.

I think from a compositional standpoint you could make this stronger by either adding a tiny bit more to the bottom of the frame or splitting the center of the flower exactly in half so it does take on the "rising sun" position. We're glad to have you join us here in the macro/flora forum...jump in with critiquing and let me know if you have any questions. We're all here to help!

ML Diggs
04-04-2010, 09:07 PM
Thanks, Jerry and Julie. I'm not sure whether it is camera positioning or manual focusing technique, but I generally have a fairly shallow dof, regardless of aperture, so I generally go for getting what I want crisp (in this case, the polyps on the flower center) in focus. I suppose I could pull back, get more dof, and then crop. I use a tripod with focusing rail and remote release (and this was fairly wind-free) so I'm not sure how to get more edge to edge sharpness. It might be a focal plane parallel to subject issue. These bloom all spring, so I should have another opportunity.

Oh, btw, I go variously by Marylynne or ML. Marylynne is a lot of letters ;-), so I often shorten it.

Julie Kenward
04-05-2010, 12:18 AM
Hmm, I have the 100mm lens, shot some flowers today at f9 and got way more DOF. I think the issue is being so close - you are probably in the "macro" end of the lens' reach. I would try pulling back just a bit and using that same aperture next time and seeing what that does.

ML Diggs
04-05-2010, 08:31 AM
Thanks, Julie. I'll try pulling back some and see what happens.

Roman Kurywczak
04-05-2010, 05:18 PM
Hi ML,
Welcome to the forum! As a max DOF guy.....you could have easily gone to ISO 400 and f18 with the 7D....and no real noise issues....just some food for thought next time out.

ML Diggs
04-05-2010, 09:44 PM
Thanks Roman. I've perhaps taken too seriously all of the talk of diffraction at smaller apertures, so my tendency is to shoot for the middle. I'll pluck another of these and play with it this weekend.

Anita Bower
04-08-2010, 10:50 AM
I can see that this is a beautiful flower--such a gorgeous colors, especially that blue. If you are taking these photos out of the wind, you could use a slower shutter speed and increase your f stop number. When I get close to my flowers, I take photos at several f stops for comparison purpuses. I also vary the focus point, though I usually try to focus 1/3 into the object. Do you have live view on your camera? I find that most helpful for focusing. I look forward to more images from you. :)

ML Diggs
04-08-2010, 05:46 PM
Thanks, Anita. I always use live view, a tripod often with a focusing rail, and a remote shutter. Sometimes I choose different focal points and focus stack the images, but this time I didn't. I'm thinking re-shoot. This is one of the first macros with my 7D and I'm a little out of practice (my 40D was stolen in January).

I just checked the yard and the current blooms look a bit tattered from our recent rain and wind here, but these guys blossom for a while, so I'm hoping to get another shot. I think pulling back a little further and not fearing diffraction stopped down a few will probably do the trick.