Damon Williams
About the Image(s)
Fuji X-E3
50-140mm @ 134mm
1/90
F5
ISO 400,
center weighted metering
I lit it from the back with some continuous lighting, I think I did some exposure editing too.
I shot this early in this year as part of the first photo training I'd ever really had, Individualized Photography, here at PSA. I think the assignment was Macro/Close Up and Still Life. I found that making a MEANINGFUL image in either case was challenging, but I finally came up with something that I didn't hate, which was this. What I like about this image: black blacks, tones and texture in the whites, nice colors in the central structure, the entire flower is in focus but the stem isn't. What I don't like about this image: I think maybe I ought to crop in from the left more to get the flower out of the center more (but that would leave a lot of black on the right), I'm not sure it's that original. I presented it to my club as an entry for the theme "Up Close." It was...unloved. (sad trombone wah wah wah)
This round’s discussion is now closed!
11 comments posted
THE DAFFODIL IS ELECTRIC.
I REALLY LIKE THE COMPOSITIOLN OF THIS IMAGE, YOU'VE PLACED IN A VERY NICE POSITION, MAYBE TAKING ABOUT ONE INCH OFF THE LEFT WOULD KEEP IT IN BALANCE WITH THE THE SPACING AT THE TOP AND BOTTOM AND LEAVING THE ROOM ON THE RIGHT WHERE THE FLOWER IS LOOKING TOWARD.
THE HARDEST THING TO HANDLE ARE THE WHITES, YOU HAVE GOOD EXPOSURE ON THEM. THE CENTER OF THE FLOWER IS A STRIKING ORANGE, PUTTING IT IN SHARP CONSTRAST ON THE WHITE PEDALS.
JUST MY OPINON, GO FOR MORE DOF, I SEE YOU USING F5.6 MAYBE
F11 AND GET MORE IN SHARP DETAILS, JUST LOOKS KINDA OF SOFT IN THE CENTER.
THANKS FOR ELETRIC TINGLE.
  Posted: 10/02/2020 18:46:27
  Posted: 10/04/2020 17:16:55
They look great on the screen, but the output via export is a much different product. In this case, I had to do a complete system reset last week, and most of my Lightroom photos were lost (well, I have the originals on a backup drive) but haven't set LrC back up so I decided to just try the Mac Photos version. The settings for both exports are literally the same. I was actually directed to the Apple Engineers a few months ago, for this issue, after some mutual head scratching.
Moral of the story: Not all editors are created equal. Second moral: Mac ain't what it used to be.   Posted: 10/04/2020 21:55:54
YEAH, the difference between LrC and Mac Photos is criminal isn't it? IT'S THE SAME FILE!!! Every time I talk to the Mac folks (which is a lot these days, ever since the advent of Mac 10.15) I tell them how they drove me away from Photos. Oh well.   Posted: 10/20/2020 08:57:05
I'm sorry your club thought this was ho - hum. I like the detail in the petals especially the white ones - it's so hard to capture all that detail. I find both photos a little soft although the LR one is much better. I've had similar issues - so now I double check my jpg files before submitting them anywhere. Sometimes it's just me forgetting to use the sharpen in LR. I have "jazzed up" plane Jane (if there is such a thing of a beautiful flower) with a spray bottle of water. You'd be amazed - especially with a black background. Also I would consider using focus stacking and moving the camera slightly to the left to show a little more of the outside of the center of the flower without loosing the stamen in the middle. I think that would add more of a three dimensionality to the photo and thus interest to those who say ho-hum... I think this is an excellent first try and I'm being supper picky!   Posted: 10/27/2020 00:02:09