Flower Power Thread

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Hellebore from Nymans the other day. There are Daffodils out around here I just haven't caught any I like yet so one from last year

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GardenersHelper said:
All the same, the flower stands out really well from the background. I get a nice almost 3D effect. I like that. :)
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I have to say I am going to have to invest in the sigma DP2, when cash allows it will replace my normal point and shoot. I love the effect it gives on the couple of flower shots I have taken with it. I am looking forward to visiting my friend again he might let me have another go, if I am a good girl.
 
Les I like them both but particularly the daisy which has something even more that I like (y)
 
I'm just a sucker for any flowers - back lit poppies as well :)

All mesmerising to look at.
 
In our garden, two days ago. Puschkinia scilloides, aka The Striped Squill (named in honour of the Russian botanist Apollo Mussin-Pushkin). Native to the Caucasus, Turkey, northern Iran and Lebanon; found in mountain meadows and stony slopes up to 3,000 m. Apparently. (I just asked my wife what it was called. I got more than I bargained for.)

It has very pretty little flowers, which I hope we'll see quite soon.

ISO 800, f/22, 1/15 sec

0539 25 2014_03_15 IMG_7123-Edit PS1 PSS3.28 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

ISO 800, f/4.5, 1/400 sec (I know, I could have lowered the ISO :))

0539 26 2014_03_15 IMG_7118-Edit PS1 PSS3.35 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

ISO 800, f/29, 1/10 sec

0539 27 2014_03_15 IMG_7109-Edit-2 PS1 PSS3.28 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

ISO 100, f/25, 1/2 sec

0539 28 2014_03_15 IMG_7044-Edit-2 PS1 PSS3.28 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
 
Sue Bee said:
This is my attempt.
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You have good clarity and strong colours in the subject Sue. Although the frilly bits in the centre of the front flower are well defined, it looks like the purple petals behind it are in better focus (and showing more texture and detail) than the petals of the front flower. For my taste I'd prefer it the other way round.

I just did a little experiment - it turns out that bringing the highlights down does show up a bit more texture in the two yellow flowers, without any detrimental effects (or any effects I can see) on the nicely defined purple petals. It doesn't alter the situation regarding which bits are most in focus though.

Sue Bee said:
Tips on how I can get shots as good as those previously in this thread would be welcome.
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A rather open-ended request like that is a bit tricky to answer. So, what do do? Even though there may not be much around just yet, you might like to experiment with taking pictures of what you have got in different conditions, and at different times of day, and compare the shots to see how the conditions and time of day seem to be affecting what the subjects and scenes look like.

You could also experiment with using different apertures when photographing a subject and later taking the time to look at the images closely on your PC (you'll see much more on your PC than looking at the tiny images on the camera's LCD) and seeing what differences there are. Similarly with shutter speed, seeing how slowly you can hand-hold before the images start deteriorating. And ISO, seeing what impact higher ISOs have on the images - not pixel peeping so much as looking at them at a normal size, and as with hand-holding see how far you can go before the images deteriorate more than you are comfortable with. My thinking is that experiments like this help open your mind to both opportunities and boundaries that you might otherwise not be aware of.

And composition. Perhaps I should have started with that. Again, this may be heretical, and may sound rather odd, but you might want to try "looking around through the camera" rather than "using your own eyes". The camera doesn't see things the way you do, and can see things you can't, or don't, for example looking at subjects from angles that you don't, or can't. And especially as you move closer in to your subjects, I find that I only see a lot of nice shots when I offer the camera up to a scene and have a look at what it is seeing. It depends on the camera, but you may have to take a shot and then look at it to find out. (I'm used to using live view and can often get a fairly good idea from that what the image will look like. I'm not sure how well this works if you are using an optical viewfinder.)

And then post some shots here, or in threads of your own where you specifically ask for constructive comments/critique or whatever. When you do this, if you can say anything about your own thoughts about an image, what you do or don't like about the way it turned out, that would be good. And information about the weather, light, breeze, whether you worked hand held etc - the more people know about the circumstances, and what you were trying to achieve, or felt you were missing out on, the more they may be able to provide some useful comments.
 
I don't really do photos and this only came about trying to test out some new lighting, started playing around in pp and this is where it ended up. Not sure what it is, the flowers are tiny, maybe about 4-5mm....Maybe garlic mustard I've been told?

 
Tried a stack of our moth orchid, just for messing around with Zerene.

64 images at f3.2, probably overkill tbf ;)

 
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