Spiderwort

[Jay Sheinfield]

Just happened by this alluring flowered plant. I couldn't get close enough with a macro, without tramping on ground cover, so I went with a 20mm extension tube and 1.4 t/c on the 200-400mm. Not sure of the proper order, but did camera, then ext tube then t/c then lens..........anyone know if it makes a difference?

Nikon D3s
ISO 1600
550 mm
exp...1/80 sec @ f/22

Comments welcome..............

This one should pass the Stamen police! Although, I just noted two stamen-like plant parts touching........... :)

Some cropping of grass and plant "things", to get a cleaner image. Nothing major.

[denise ippolito]

Jay, Mounting the tube on the lens with the TC behind it allows you to focus even closer. When you put the tube on the lens and the TC behind it you lose auto focus so you need to focus manually. I like the colors and the way this pops off the page. I do think the left edge is a bit tight.

* The normal way to do it is to put the TC on the lens with the tube behind it so you will have auto focus.

[John Storjohann]

Jay, I really like this image; that 200-400 of yours continues to amaze me. I agree with the previous post; the left edge is a little tight...but it's a relatively minor thing; focus fades a bit on the right as well...you really should give Helicon Focus a try at some point. Was this from yesterday at the Gardens?

[Dave Leroy]

Well done with the Stamens, as well as the sharpness with all that gear and low ss.

Flower colours look good with black bg.

I do notice a few flower outlines in lrc which you may want smudge over a bit.

[Ken Childs]

Hey Jay, other than the left edge, this looks pretty good as is but I think it could be even better with a few simple tweaks. I rotated it slightly and gave it some more room on the right, top and left. I selectively sharpened the flower and then selectively sharpened the right petal a bit more. It's definitely not perfect but it's a quick edit to give you some ideas to work with.

[Jay Sheinfield]

Hi Ken,

Really like the rotation and added space. What tool/technique did you use for the selective sharpening on leaf. It looks great without adding noise.
BTW, good work on the stem. Thanks for taking the time. Definitely, up a level or so, IMO.

Jay

[Ken Childs]

Hi Ken,

Really like the rotation and added space. What tool/technique did you use for the selective sharpening on leaf. It looks great without adding noise.
BTW, good work on the stem. Thanks for taking the time. Definitely, up a level or so, IMO.

Jay
I'm glad you like it. :)
I selected the flower with the Quick Selection Tool and sharpened with Smart Sharpen.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jay,
Nice job with the OP......love the comp and colors. I do like Ken's repost and this gives you some great tweak suggestions........this will only make a strong image.....that much stronger....very well done!:cheers:

[Jay Sheinfield]

Hi Ken,

I'm still fairly new to this, so I am asking for your help. I've tried everything with smart sharp and I can't get the results (without significant noise) that you are getting. Would you mind sharing the settings and/or techniques you are using with smart sharp, or point me in a direction
where I can read up on it?

Thanks in advance, Jay

[Ken Childs]

I'm going by memory which can be dangerous sometimes but I think these are the settings I used:
Basic.
Amount can be anything from 20% on up, depending on what's needed. Usually 40 to 50% does the trick.
Radius 1.0 pixels.
Remove lens blur.
More accurate selected.

I rarely used the advanced settings so Shadow and Highlight are at their default settings of fade amount 0, tonal width 50% and a radius of 1 pixel.

[Jay Sheinfield]

ken,

thanks a bunch.

Cheers, jay