thorny impressions

[Brendan Dozier]

Finally got out to take some macro shots with a real marco lens, and found out it is not easy! Forgot to get ID on this, but I believe it is some sort of aloe vera plant and was taken at the botanic garden.

Liked the pattern created by the thorn impressions, and the contrast of the thorns against their own impressions. Was shot in afternoon shade. Thinking this can be improved by shooting in different light and experimenting with more angles, but wanted to get feedback and ideas from you folks before re-shooting. Thanks!

- Brendan

rotated to vertical, crop, cloned out some white specs, standard ACR & PP
7D, Macro 100, tripod, cable release
manual focus
1/8
13
ISO 400

[Chris Korman]

Thinking this can be improved by shooting in different light and experimenting with more angles, but wanted to get feedback and ideas from you folks before re-shooting. Thanks!

1/8
13
ISO 400

Very nice study of the textures and features of this plant. You could also try using shallow DOF in lieu of max.

[Mike Fuhr]

What wonderful texture, color and repeating patterns. Well seen and captured!

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Brendan. I really like this image. You have nice sharpness, DOF, and exposure. The foreground row of thorns is nice, but combining this with the patterning of the thorn impressions in the mid-ground takes this up several notches. The vertical pano comp works very well here. Very well done. :cheers:

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Brendan, I wouldn't change a thing to this image, although other angles might give you equally pleasing compositions. The soft light is great and does wonders for the colors. The shallow DOF experiment sounds like a promising option!

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks everyone for the feedback, very much appreciated

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Brendan,
I really like this too but i want to leave you with a few more options to think about! Since you had your tripod and were able to use a slow ss......vary the f-stops to see which comp is the most pleasing. Remeber, that you can turn the collar and put the camera on an angle.....as the ULC could be eliminated......and we wont really know about the orientation.....so it doesn't have to be perfectly vert or horizontal! The DOF fallof at that close range is expected.....so for me going to f22 would have gotten the lower thorn tack would be the way to go......but as usual......the opposite may also be true. One thing for sure.....once you find a nice comp such as this.....explore the angles.....and the DOF......this will let you chose your favorite becuase the subject is awesome! Very nicely done here!

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks for the helpful advice Roman, and I was wondering about that ULC as well.

[Ken Childs]

Hey Brendan, the most intriguing aspect of this are those cool repeating patterns....nicely spotted! You've definitely got options as to how to crop this. I like it as is but I'm not too crazy about the ULC so for my tastes, I probably would have cropped a bit more off the top, concentrating on keeping those 3 lower thorns. I imagine that in the full original frame, you have even more options. Well done! :S3:

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks Ken, I just cropped the top using the browser window, and it does seem to work better. I might clone some of what is left in the ULC after the crop, because I still want to have some diagonal to it.

[Dave Leroy]

The complimentary patterns really standout.

Good for you to see it.

My first thought was an absolute vertical crop to lose the ULC, but I see you have a few other options to strengthen a really nice photo.

Dave