Experienced beginner (?) & new to BPN

[Bob Smith]

I am new to this site and Forum and much pleased to be here. I have been serious about photography for about a year and a half, getting into it originally for the challenge of BIF photography but quickly falling under the spell of all the incredible images that flowers and plants present when captured by my 70-300mm lens ( and now even my 400mm ). I started out with a Nikon D600 but switched to Canon and a 5D MarkIII after some shoddy treatment at the hands of the local Nikon service centre. I must say that unfortunate incident feels like it has turned out well for me as I am delighted with my new Canon gear.These dandelion puffs, seen at a glance on a walk along the edge of a river marsh, were just another weed in the vast expanse of marsh growth around me and yet, extracted from that by camera lens, they seem so extraordinarily lovely to me. It's a pretty complex image and I've just cropped it as bit, sharpened it a bit , tweaked it with two clicks of vibrancy and of recovery, then added AUTO curves. I would much appreciate the thoughts of others, more learned in this art than I, on the image and on what I've done with it and should have done with it, in postISO500,f16,1/350.-1.5ev,5DMIII,EF400mm IS DO w/ 1.4Ext.III, pattern exposure meter,

[Diane Miller]

Hi Bob, and welcome! In addition tot he gear used, it helps, especially here, to outline your processing software and rough settings.

This is a complex image, made moreso by the high contrast. The dandelion puffs are the subject and I'd get even closer, although at some point it might take a macro lens. That would let you avoid the out of focus foreground elements and give you softer focus on the BG, which would give more artistic emphasis to the seed heads. Softer contrast in your processing would also help the image. I assume you are shooting raw?

You do have excellent equipment. I've had the 5D3 since it came out and the 5D and 5D II before that. It is a wonderful camera with excellent autofocus control. A little slow focusing for birds in flight, but usable with some experience.

Look forward to continuing the discussion and seeing more of your work!

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Bob,

Greetings. Welcome to BPN. The subject is nicely separated by focus but the bright and contrasty out of focus elements distract the eye. Bright light intermixed with dark shadows is always a challenge. Thanks for posting.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[David Kenny]

Bob,

I think getting closer for more separation from the background (if possible)may have helped here. The light appears to be on the strong side here which leads to a high contrast background which takes the attention away from the subject. If possible I would try to go back on a cloudy day and reshoot the scene and compare the two images. I have been serious about photography for about 3 years and am always learning new things.

-Dave

[Bob Smith]

Thank you all for your comments. I have felt most welcome here and over at Avian. I was actually out birding with my 400mm + converter when I shot this and a few other flowers on a whim just to see how it would turn out. When I 1st saw this image I was struck by the strength of the background against which the little white puffs sill stood out. I'll use your advice and tinker with this a bit to try and achieve a balance that makes both aspects of the scene co-partners in its visual appeal. It was taken right at "magic time" in the evening on a very sunny day so your observations on the strength of the light are well grounded.

[Diane Miller]

One thing that is not easy to learn is that we see with a much larger dynamic range than the camera records, so our pictures will be of higher contrast than what we saw, lacking detail that we saw in the darks and llights. And it can be very difficult or impossible to correct enough. Very soft light is the answer. We can increase contrast much better than decrease it.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Welcome to the forum, Bob! More knowledge around than you'd ever need with members whom are more than willing to share it so make full use of it! Looking at the white fluff's I'm missing just a little sharpness so I'd apply one or two rounds of Unsharp Masking (USM) in PS to see if it sharpens without affecting anything negatively. Other than that I would not change anything.

PS: pity about the bad Nikon service. Up here I've been treated like a king - I've had some repairs done twice in the last 3 months (once on my D600 and once on a lens bought 2nd hand). The 5D III is a potent camera and would have been my first choice had I gone the Canon route. Happy snappies and keep on sharing it with us!

[Bob Smith]

Thanks for the welcome Tobie. The Nikon thing was an unfortunate experience . And now ,sadly, I have to submit myself to the Canon repair service, as the multi-contrller joy stick on my 5D MIII fell off during normal use this week ( apparently not all that unusual an occurrence ). The most irking part is how long camera repair takes. I'll be out of photography for 3-5 weeks. Happily we're off to visit the Grandkids so that will fill in the time and a point and shoot will get the pics. Here's a last go at the image I started this thread with. By cropping somewhat and swinging curves off to the right a bit and adding what sharpening I could with Aperture ( I don't yet use PS Tobie ) I think I've reduced the overall impact of the background while still leaving it a a significant element in the overall impression of the image.

[Diane Miller]

Yes, much better! I'd think about lowering saturation on the greens a little (and greens are often more yellows) and lightening the darks somewhat.

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Thanks for the welcome Tobie. The Nikon thing was an unfortunate experience . And now ,sadly, I have to submit myself to the Canon repair service, as the multi-contrller joy stick on my 5D MIII fell off during normal use this week ( apparently not all that unusual an occurrence ). The most irking part is how long camera repair takes. I'll be out of photography for 3-5 weeks. Happily we're off to visit the Grandkids so that will fill in the time and a point and shoot will get the pics. Here's a last go at the image I started this thread with. By cropping somewhat and swinging curves off to the right a bit and adding what sharpening I could with Aperture ( I don't yet use PS Tobie ) I think I've reduced the overall impact of the background while still leaving it a a significant element in the overall impression of the image.

I'm in agreement with Diane - much better! In addition to what she has said: perhaps just raise your whites a tad to bring back some of the sparkle of the white fluffs as in your original pic.

I don't want to drive you tears but when my camera went in for repairs a fortnight ago, Nikon gave me a loan unit for the mean time so I was never without a camera. They usually do it under their NPU (Nikon Professional User) scheme (meaning you need a FF camera & two pro lenses) but they did not even ask about my NPU membership (although I do qualify). So, I was quite relieved and highly impressed!

[Bob Smith]

Thanks for the extra tips folks--I'm away for a week or so and will give it another go when I get back

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Thanks for the extra tips folks--I'm away for a week or so and will give it another go when I get back

Enjoy!