Newbie 1st post - water lily

[freebsdntu]

This morning,I got up earlier than usual,but the sun is quite high already,lol.I went to a water lily pool nearby,but only a few water lily are found which unfortunately are at the center of the pool.So I have to use the maximum zoom(my camera is Canon S3IS),which I can tell you,still found to be quite limited.Although I got sweat all over,but too my efforts,I am quite grateful that I got these.
This was my first time shooting water lily,and I am not sure how to meter it well,I just used spot metering for most of the pictures,and I know that many,if not all,of them must be not properly exposed.Anyway,hope you like them.
C&C greatly appreciated.

Here is the link to my flick,more water lily are in set wate lily,hope you like
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freebsdntu/

 

[eikin]

hi, your image requires users to log into the linked forum to view, you should consider using another photo hosting site for the picture

 

[freebsdntu]

hi, your image requires users to log into the linked forum to view, you should consider using another photo hosting site for the picture

Thank you very much for your kind notice,eikin.
Now I have uploaded the photos to my flickr gallary,in set water lily,it should work this time.
Your looking around would always be appreciated!
Cheers!

 

[eikin]

Thank you very much for your kind notice,eikin.
Now I have uploaded the photos to my flickr gallary,in set water lily,it should work this time.
Your looking around would always be appreciated!
Cheers!

do take note of the 1 picture per week guideline http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=139941

and the short writeup http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=273376

and information on how you can show the picture in the thread http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=94574

 

[ortega]

too many white lily pictures to do a C&C
please be specific

 

[freebsdntu]

do take note of the 1 picture per week guideline http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=139941

and the short writeup http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=273376

and information on how you can show the picture in the thread http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=94574

too many white lily pictures to do a C&C
please be specific

Thank you,eikin and ortega,now I got it,and I have pasted the picture in the thread.

 

[maddyks]

Underexposed bro. Maybe you could sharpen the pictures a little too. And its not very eye catching also. Keep working

Is this the pond near the Hostel 2 or something?

 

[freebsdntu]

Underexposed bro. Maybe you could sharpen the pictures a little too. And its not very eye catching also. Keep working

Is this the pond near the Hostel 2 or something?

Thank you for your comment,maddyks.So how do I get the correct exposure?I just used the exposure suggested by the camera meter.

I am now in China for the summer vacation.It is a water lily pool near my house.

 

[jonkk]

the Canon S3 IS is a decent camera. be proud of it! and it's the photographer for the most part of it anyway, right? here are some thoughts:

Composition - could be improved. look at the frame - distracting elements would be the leaves that surround the lily haphazardly. this is not to say have no leaves - include the leaves SELECTIVELY. either SELECTED leaves which add to the soul of the picture, or NO leaves at all, with a close-up of the flower to reveal its intricacies.

Exposure - always go for a 'correct' exposure - DUH. and this means looking out for 1) blown highlights (overexposed) and 2) underexposures. you lose clarity and detail, especially in overexposure. underexposures you can correct easily in photoshop. i saw the other photos - water lily 1 is a nicely balanced exposure but notice the white of the lily has lost detail (blown highlight) - the other side of the coin..

Metering - spot metering is what alot of pros use because they know what to meter. i suppose with spot metering, you metered off the flower. this led to the underexposure of the leaves. solution? you might have wanted to try another shot with exposure compentation by about 1/3 or 2/3 stop maybe that would be better?

the trouble you face is you are shooting high contrast subjects - flowers are bright white, leaves are dark green. might need to photoshop to get a more balanced exposure, or shoot earlier in the morning/later in the day maybe you could try using centre weighted/evaluative metering? at least it meters the whole scene so it will not over/under expose in general if you happen to spot meter a dark/bright spot!

I'm not an expert in this, but this is what I would have done, based on past experiences and feedback from other photographers which has helped me in my shooting
Hey, since you're in China, go shoot street and the things around you would be nice to look at the big picture too, while zooming into the small and finer things in life! Thanks for sharing i'm going to the Bird Park with my cousin tomorrow.. will bring my camera along and give a go at birding cheers!

 

[freebsdntu]

the Canon S3 IS is a decent camera. be proud of it! and it's the photographer for the most part of it anyway, right?

Thank you for your inspiration,I got it!

Composition - could be improved. look at the frame - distracting elements would be the leaves that surround the lily haphazardly. this is not to say have no leaves - include the leaves SELECTIVELY. either SELECTED leaves which add to the soul of the picture, or NO leaves at all, with a close-up of the flower to reveal its intricacies.

I will take note of it next time,but for this one,since only several lilies far away in the center of the pond has blown,so i used the maximum of my zoom to catch it,i will go another day when the lilies are all over the pond so that i can take a close-up of one.

Exposure - always go for a 'correct' exposure - DUH. and this means looking out for 1) blown highlights (overexposed) and 2) underexposures. you lose clarity and detail, especially in overexposure. underexposures you can correct easily in photoshop. i saw the other photos - water lily 1 is a nicely balanced exposure but notice the white of the lily has lost detail (blown highlight) - the other side of the coin..

I am a beginner,and getting the correct exposure is one of the most difficult tasks for me now,most of the times,if not always,i take the camera's suggestion.

Metering - spot metering is what alot of pros use because they know what to meter. i suppose with spot metering, you metered off the flower. this led to the underexposure of the leaves. solution? you might have wanted to try another shot with exposure compentation by about 1/3 or 2/3 stop maybe that would be better?

I guess I did meter on the flower,I will try next time with exposure compensation.

the trouble you face is you are shooting high contrast subjects - flowers are bright white, leaves are dark green. might need to photoshop to get a more balanced exposure, or shoot earlier in the morning/later in the day maybe you could try using centre weighted/evaluative metering? at least it meters the whole scene so it will not over/under expose in general if you happen to spot meter a dark/bright spot!

Okay,I will take the advice

I'm not an expert in this, but this is what I would have done, based on past experiences and feedback from other photographers which has helped me in my shooting

And now you are helping me,thank you so much!You have really provided me with quite a lot useful tips
Hey, since you're in China, go shoot street and the things around you would be nice to look at the big picture too, while zooming into the small and finer things in life! Thanks for sharing
Street shoot?It is very very very hot now in China,much hotter than Singapore And the streets are just over-crowded with cars and people But I will surely shoot something from my origin.

i'm going to the Bird Park with my cousin tomorrow.. will bring my camera along and give a go at birding cheers!

Good luck to your trip,looking forward to your photos

 

[espion]

understand your equipment limitations when u make your pictures.

In this pic we cant "see" water lily, meaning it is too small and we dont see any significant details about it. and there are more leaves than lily.

Now this is not to say that a water lily pic must always be a macro, but your picture must be focused - ie compositionally and not technically - on some or one thing about a water lily, that even if someone have seen waterlilies 100,000 times, he will still look at your lily and not waste his time.

So for a picture at this scale some possibilities can be the play of shadow and light on the water lily leaves, or framing of the lily by the leaves, or some arrangements of lily, bulbs, leaves, etc. But I am sure there are many more some which I cannot imagined.

And this is where you come in by showing us something that we never saw nor can imagined.

The technical skills of using a camera anyone can learn. But to see such things only you can do it for no one can see with your eyes.

PS: You can say the same things that other people have said before, but like good music, you can hear it over and over again, and each you will hear something new. The same for a good photo too.