Daisies

Gallery: FloraPosted July 26, 201291 views5 comments

Daises in front of a local motel. Windy day, hence the fast shutter speed.
Questions: Too shadowy in parts?
The petals at 6 o'clock are blown out, though the histogram looked okay.

Any suggestions for improving my work are appreciated. Flowers are so colorful it seems hard to take a bad flower picture, but I suspect this one isn't totally "NPN worthy", but if we don't post these shots, how do we learn?

Canon 7D
17-40 mm at 40 mm
1/2000
F4.5
ISO 100
Processed in ACR and PS5- some errant petals from adjacent daisies were cloned out.

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on July 27, 2012 at 2:05 AM

The strengths of this image are the detail in the center of the flowers and the nice crowding together positioning of the two, Allen. Nice and sharp too: it was a good idea to use that fast ss. It makes me uncomfortable to see the petal tips so close to the edge of the frame, though. Also, the light green in the bg could be decreased in exposure somewhat. A few of the petals are without any detail...but that is likely mainly because of the harsh light on them (I don't think they are blown). On the whole, I like the shot.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Bob&Charly Nelson on July 27, 2012 at 9:06 AM

A little strong shadow on the the one center Allen, but not a deal breaker in my opinion. I like this.
Bob

Registered on October 27, 2005, 289 Posts, 4202 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Windom on July 27, 2012 at 10:52 AM

This is a tough subject for the bright lighting conditions you had and you've already pointed out some of the "problems". One thing to consider is using a diffuser to soften the light reaching the flowers. I use the LiteDisc diffusers and reflectors and highly recommend them. Depending on your camera position, etc. a diffuser may not be able to help you much with the background but you can modify that in post.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 176 Posts, 2302 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on July 30, 2012 at 8:02 PM

Allen:
You have given yourself a hard assignment taking white flowers in harsh light. In any case I like the composition of two flowers in different stages of development side by side. I don't mind the tight framing but would like to see some of the green in the bg dimmed. The details in the center of both bloom are terrific. The petals are not blown and I think you may be able to coax a little more details using the shadow/highlights sliders.

Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on July 30, 2012 at 9:25 PM

Thanks for all the advice given. Much appreciated. It is why being an NPN member is so valuable.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments