Need Honest Input on My Macro Shots


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Febrita

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Hi Guys and Gals,

Took several macro shots of a Stargazer Lily. I felt that this doesn't have an X-factor to it. Any advice on how I can make it more interesting?
DSC_1875s_framed_800.jpg


Thanks.

Cheers,
Febrita
http://febrita.zenfolio.com
 

erm.. din quite understand the quotation..

subject wise it's not a terribly interesting thing to macro.. you'll have to watch the awkward cropping too on the top left.. and the reds of the subject and the background which are losing each other..
 

Before you press the shutter, ask yourself, where is the point of interest.

Actually the image is very messy. You need to isolate the point of interest.

Try doing some research or look at some photo book regarding flower photography.
At a start, try to intimate them, as time go by, you will able to create your own style and vision.
 

erm.. din quite understand the quotation..

subject wise it's not a terribly interesting thing to macro.. you'll have to watch the awkward cropping too on the top left.. and the reds of the subject and the background which are losing each other..

Hi SSPing, thanks for the suggestion.
The caption referred to the allergies that lots of people all over the world (well, mostly 4 season countries) suffer when pollen is in the air during summer time. Some call it hayfever. My caption referrs to the miniscule pollen as conquering the world, one summer at a time :)

Hmmm .. on cropping .. a bit hard to do since the stamen cluster together. Pretty tough to get a shot where only 1 stamen is visible with the base of the flower in the frame too.
But yes, the upper left corner is quite distracting.
 

Before you press the shutter, ask yourself, where is the point of interest.

Actually the image is very messy. You need to isolate the point of interest.

Try doing some research or look at some photo book regarding flower photography.
At a start, try to intimate them, as time go by, you will able to create your own style and vision.

Hi Leong,
Thanks for the input! :)
Will try to find a nice solid background next time ;)
 

im not into macro photography... but my eyes couldn't find anything to focus on... just like what Leong23 mentioned, it lacks point of interest....
 

I believe you wanted to make the pistil the main subject but the stamen is too distracting with the red pollen.

A slightly different angle may help if the BG is more of the greenish core.
 

flowers i find much harder to shoot, but there are ways of doing it no doubt, you can check out flickr, just search for "flower macro" and then click "most interesting". at least 70% of these will be relatively good if they fit the subject.
 

Hi elmzarcega, zac08, night86mare,
Thanks for the tips! :D

I've gone into flower macro a few months back (http://febrita.zenfolio.com) and have been really enjoying it :)
Hoping to improve my technique, so i posted one of my most lack lustre image here to gain some critiques. Really helped!
 

Hi Guys and Gals,

Took several macro shots of a Stargazer Lily. I felt that this doesn't have an X-factor to it. Any advice on how I can make it more interesting?
DSC_1875s_framed_800.jpg


Thanks.

Cheers,
Febrita
http://febrita.zenfolio.com

well, i can just tell you... next time walk around the subject, look high and low, see which angle you can see that it will show off its best angle, then you shoot.

A side profile of the inner stalk/stem esp something like this makes it hard to know what is the actual subject, and its just another mess when you shot it wide open without any highlights, contrast and texture.
 

hmm i think i should correct abit... its shot at f22 apparently...

which means this is a rather extreme macro.


probably what kills the picture might be motion blur, as you did not use flash and its on 1sec.

oso, the composition is rather lacking, esp without the isolation of the 1/2 cut subject.
 

there is too much dof, thus making the background more visible

also there is nothing really sharp (could be due to the subject/camera movement)

you might also want to try back lighting on this subject
 

Hi Del_CtrlnoAlt and ortega,
Thank you for the input! Will certainly consider that.
This image is from a series that I took and it's the most lack lustre of all and I was wondering how I can improve it, thus, the posting :)
Your advice certainly helped.

Cheers,
Febrita.
 

Hi Febrita,

Besides the pointers given above which are all very useful, you may want to try rotating the photo anti-clockwise to a portrait view to see if it looks better for you.

The curve of the stamens upwards in the landscape view doesn't seem quite right for this flower, which in its natural state, typically extends from the flower in a downward bend before curving back up. However, if your objective is to capture abstract images then that requires a different interpretation from the foregoing.

Feel free to browse through some of my recent close-up/macro shots of flowers [here]. The colours of this set of photos were saturated intentionally. There's a picture in the second row which I believe is the same flower species as the one you have posted here. But that one is more a close-up than a macro shot. This flower is not exactly an easy subject for composing extreme macros, just like certain orchid species.

Also, do enjoy the flowers in full bloom, not just worry about technical details like aperture, ISO, dof, etc. Technical savvy is possible to acquire in due course when you shoot more. Its one thing to get good pictures of flowers, its another to enjoy the beauty of nature when its so close in front of you. Have fun :)
 

Hi toffeespin,

Goodness! You're right! It looked better rotated! Haha!!!
I heard someone said before, "So many flowers, so little time!" .. i think he perfectly captured what you've just said! :bsmilie:
Must be your fellow macro flower enthusiast! ;)

Thank you very much for improving the image! Was really waiting for an advice that can improve the photo and yours did!

I've visited your website, great shots! Love the vivid colours! Ooooh, so many flowers! so little time! :bsmilie:

Cheers,
Febrita
http://febrita.zenfolio.com
 

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