About the Image(s)

Macro lens closeup shot of flower bloom. I was playing with macro lens and shallow depth of field.

Intent: I wanted to see what I could do with a macro shot of a fairly common subject, but using both composition and post-processing editing techniques to make a visually interesting photo without resorting to focus stacking (which I still have not mastered). Compositionally, I filled the frame with the flower and a bit of its stalk and picked as a focus point the cluster of stamens in the center. Knowing the macro lens would force a very shallow depth of field anyway, I also selected a fairly wide aperture to in effect make it worse (shallower still).

Edit: All edits done in Capture One v. 16.3. After a few basic tweaks to overall exposure and saturation, edits were all done with ah eye to distinguish between different focal “slices� of the image, but using exposure, brightness, contrast and saturation to produce visual contrast. I made two radial grad masks on separate layers, one to isolate the central area of the flower (the focal “subject�), which I brightened slightly and added a little saturation, clarity and structure. The second was all the rest of the image (copied the mask from layer 1 and inverted it) to slightly reduce brightness and saturation. I then used a set of presets on its own layer that recovered some highlights and boosted warm hues a bit. I dramatically reduced the opacity of this layer so the effect was quite subtle.

Tech details: Camera: Sony A7Riii Lens: Sony FE 90 mm F2.8 Macro G. Focal length: 90 mm. ISO: 100; f/3.2, Shutter 1/200 sec.