The Magic Of DOF Through A Macro Lens (W/O Photoshop)

Very nice bit of work Dunc, liking these very much.(y)

George.
 
Very nice bit of work Dunc, liking these very much.(y)

George.

Thanks George!! So now to reveal the so called "magic". :D I wanted to shoot these little flowers in their natural environment but their situation in our garden and their surrounding area just doesn't lend itself to get the kind of DOF I was after, nor the colour. I was looking for that rich green you get from surrounding grass and I wanted the flowers to really pop out of the background but it had to look and feel natural and I didn't want to have to manipulate the DOF in PS as it can often look a tad unreal or overcooked.

I mused a while and then went on the hunt. In my wife's wardrobe I found a light green silk dress that she sometimes wears to balls and charity events. Whilst she was outside I sneaked it into my light box and set it as a background. I hung it so there were a few creases visible, hoping to create a some subtle changes in the background so it didn't look contrived. I then clamped the flowers about 2 1/2 feet in front of the dress and used the Vivitar Komine 55mm macro lens to focus in fairly close. When I opened them up in PS I was surprised at how nicely the "trick" had worked. The dress had created exactly the effect I was looking for and my work in PS was minimal with zero work required on the background at all.

I'm going to use this more now I know it works and experiment with other "natural" colour backgrounds when capturing the image outside is simply not impossible.
 
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Haha so I guess your misses wardrobe will so be empty :p
 
Excellent idea Dunc.

The next step of course is to wear the dress whilst taking flowers shots in their natural environment :p
And take a selfie and post it here [emoji12]
 
Very effective background, difficult to find a natural looking shade of green for this kind of thing.
Tried something similar a couple of years ago using green card, but it was a bit even when out of focus, so lit it through some tissues in front of the lights to add a bit of variation.
Intended to break out my airbrush to paint a more mottled background, but never got around to it. You might just have inspired a project for the weekend ;)
If you want to stick to using material, might be worth trying a few charity shops to see what you can find, would save getting in trouble with the missus.
 
Very effective background, difficult to find a natural looking shade of green for this kind of thing.
Tried something similar a couple of years ago using green card, but it was a bit even when out of focus, so lit it through some tissues in front of the lights to add a bit of variation.
Intended to break out my airbrush to paint a more mottled background, but never got around to it. You might just have inspired a project for the weekend ;)
If you want to stick to using material, might be worth trying a few charity shops to see what you can find, would save getting in trouble with the missus.

LOL! Yep, you're right. Silk seems to be the go to material. Charity shops is a good shout!
 
Well well well lady D, or do you prefer miss D? ;)

I envisage lots of you male folk causing a stir hunting pretty silks whilst out shopping! :LOL:

Jesting aside they are beautiful, the colour contrasts really work and gorgeous lighting to boot!
 
I guess we shall be seeing a flurry of shady characters rummaging around the ladies clothing rails in the charity shops. Still it will give the shopkeepers something to talk about
 
Well well well lady D, or do you prefer miss D? ;)

I envisage lots of you male folk causing a stir hunting pretty silks whilst out shopping! :LOL:

Jesting aside they are beautiful, the colour contrasts really work and gorgeous lighting to boot!

Thanks Tracey! Almost lost my coffee on my MacBook! :D
 
I mused a while and then went on the hunt.

I have on plenty of occasions printed a blurry background scene off the free pages found on the web and simply slipped the sheet of paper behind my subject. :)

Paul.
 
@WingTsun

Can you post a photo of the dress please?

I'd like to see the approximate colour and look out for something similar.
Terry.

Here ya go, Terry. If you want to look for the exact one, the label says: HOBBs Size 8). :D

HOBBS_zps3dlvnhhb.png
 
Thanks Dunc.
A different colour to what I was expecting.

Yes. Being silk it does change a fair bit with the lighting and maybe that's what helps it work, in that it produces a varied and therefore believable background. Of course, I'll change the levels and tweak the colour slightly in PS, too.

In the first set of 3 images I did almost no tweaking. The last image a bit more.
 
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Beautiful images Dunc. well done
 


So this is the last in the series of induced DOF and “natural” backgrounds. What I’ve found interesting is just how “natural” a silk dress can render and how easy it is to slightly manipulate the colour in Photoshop. If you look at all the images in this series, each and every background differs slightly but most importantly, all of them look as if they were taken outdoors in their native environments. Good result, I’d say!

PINK 2 – Vivitar 55mm f/2.8 Auto-Macro (Komine)
 
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