This fall we were at a gallery which had a sizable planting of unusual veggies and flowers. This small squash (or perhaps it is a gourd) was trained to vine all over a rusted old fence. It wasn't much bigger than a man's fist. I used my iPhone which reported settings of ISO 25 (!!), f/2.2, 1/450 sec. In Photoshop I cloned out some spots and stray bits of string from the support tie. Then I sharpened selectively. I still am not completely satisfied with the yellow cap, but there were really no sharp edges, and there was also the perennial problem of capturing yellow in the sunlight--there seems to be no way, short of underexposing, to keep it from looking overexposed. In this case the luminosity histogram does not show a spike on the right, whereas the RGB one shows a tiny yellow spike on the right. Playing with the curves adjustment didn't really help.
This round’s discussion is now closed! 9 comments posted
Mark Southard
an excellent capture......sure like the colors and contrast .
Consider cropping to focus the entire attention to the squash(gourd) Posted: 01/08/2018 11:37:00
Good macro image of the squash plant. I like the composition and detail in the image. As you said the yellow of the cap appears to be a little washed out. I've not used Photoshop much, but does it have a slider for "dodge & burn"? This can sometimes bring out some detail in lighter parts of an image. Posted: 01/09/2018 13:20:15
At times like this, I turn to the Healing Brush Tool in PS (not the Spot Healing Brush). I pulled from different areas of the squash to blend the hot areas. See what you think. Posted: 01/10/2018 16:44:50
Audrey Waitkus
I really like the subtle difference that makes. I had never used the healing brush, so I tried it out. It works a lot like the clone tool. Do you know if there is a difference between the healing brush and the clone tool? Posted: 01/20/2018 07:32:40
The clone tool copies exactly from one spot to the next. With the healing brush, it blends the marked area to the area you are fixing. Posted: 01/20/2018 12:38:04
Audrey Waitkus
I like the way that sounds. I think it will overcome some of the difficulties I have with the clone tool. Can't wait to try it out. Thanks for the lead. Posted: 01/20/2018 13:53:19
Ruth Holt
Subject well placed; sharpness is great, and colors are vibrant. Thanks to Marla for using the Healing Brush; I would have tired the clone tool. I will remember about the healing brush next time I have that problem. Posted: 01/23/2018 16:46:33
Eric Schweitzer
Overall this photo has lots of potential. I think Marla's adjustments are an improvement by eliminating some of the white spots in the yellow cap. You may want to try using content aware on PS to see if some more of the white spots can be removed. I would try putting a vignette to darken the borders. The top left is particularly bright. This would focus the eye more on the squash/gourd. Posted: 01/23/2018 18:41:40
It is an interesting subject and I like your composition! I agree that Marla's application of the healing tool help the image. I agree that the edges of the gourd look a bit soft - your depth of field was very shallow at 2.2, which is probably why you have soft edges with a "wide" subject. Have you tried to use your iPhone in manual mode? Stopping down the aperture would have helped give you more DoF. You certainly have enough ISO and shutter speed to work with to keep exposure in range. Posted: 01/26/2018 13:02:08
