Flower

[G_Dem]

This was taken with my Sigma APO 70-300 today. I liked the colours but whats all that powder on the petals? Pollen? I didn't notice it until I uploaded it on my laptop. All comments, good or bad welcome...

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y1/G_R5GTT/edit0020.jpg

[Ewan]

This picture seems to be soft. Looking at the exif I'd say it was camera shake - 1/80th isn't quite enough for handheld. My suggestion would be instead of using F14 use something nearer F5.6 for a faster shutter.

[InaGlo]

Nice colours/nice angle, but I agree with Ewan ... worth another shot perhaps?

[G_Dem]

Indeed. Shame I couldn't tell until I uploaded it. I'll try again tomorrow hopefully and will post back here. Didn't realise the shutter was so slow until you said Ewan. I was shooting in Av to try and get as much of the flower in focus as possible.

Thanks

[Ewan]

The colours and lighting look spot on BTW - looking forward to the non-blurry version ;)

Remember if you want fast shutter speeds and a high f-number you can raise the ISO. If you're worried about noise, check out this (http://www.imagenomic.com/download.aspx) free noise removal program. It will soften images slightly so remember to sharpen them afterwards if they need it.

[Gandhi]

You might find a tripod useful. And remember that any breeze or movement in the flower is also gonna cause motion blur in whatever you're shooting.

[G_Dem]

Thanks for the tips. Any better? Would of preferred a much smaller aperture but it was cloudy + no tripod + shaky hand

Think I might need to wait for a sunny day. Not sure about the narrow depth of field.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y1/G_R5GTT/edit0023.jpg

[Ewan]

Much better :)

Waiting for a sunny day would be a good idea too if you want less shallow DOF :)

[G_Dem]

Cheers Ewan. Ive ordered a 150 sigma lens so will be interesting to see how much better that performs (Image quality wise).

[Ewan]

Cheers Ewan. Ive ordered a 150 sigma lens so will be interesting to see how much better that performs (Image quality wise).

Hugely better, if Messiah Khan's images are anything to go by!

[G_Dem]

Tried it for the final time today and pretty much got what I wanted. Bumped the ISO up to 800 and the aperture as small as possible while still having a shutter speed OK for handheld. Got slightly more of the flower in focus.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y1/G_R5GTT/edit0024.jpg

[Ewan]

Definately the best of the three! Great shot :D