Muscari Macro

[Julie Kenward]

Here's a macro from earlier this spring. I picked a few wild muscari and bundled them together, laid them on a table and then shot up the length of the main stem.

Canon 40D, EF 100mm f2.8
f5 @ 1/50th, ISO 100
Handheld, natural outdoor light
Processed in ACR & CS5

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Jules, I like the concept of this one, but it looks like none of the 'bells' are well in focus. Compositionwise I think there is a little too much empty space at the bottom. I've tried a shot like this, but did not succeed, because I found it extremely difficult to find a pleasing composition without too much empty space. I think you are well under way to succes! Hope to see more of this!

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jules. I love the colors and the natural light, but like Jerry, I would wish the the 3 main booms were sharper - this may be a matter of taste as some might prefer the softer look. Handholding macro shots at 1/50 in natural light is not something I've had much success with - maybe your hands are steadier than mine. :S3: Keep the cool flowers coming!

[Dennis Bishop]

Thumbs up for color and composition. Nice application of depth of field, too. I don't mind, at all, that it's overall a bit soft. In fact, I like it that way.

[Ken Childs]

Hey Jules, I like the colors of these cool little flowers and the comp looks fine as is but I'm having the same problem as Jerry and Steve...I need at least one fairly sharp thing to grab on to. I tried several things in Photoshop to see if I could get it to work better and what worked the best was applying a relatively strong Orton Effect. These flowers really give off a great glow with Orton!