Summer Flower

Sooty_1 (Critique Team)

2

20 Jun 2012 - 9:18 AM

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Nice shot, let down a little for me by the brightness of the petals and the small bit of leaf (?) at 7 o'clock.
You can also see some chromatic aberration on the edges of the petals.
Good off-centre composition, and plenty of detail, just a bit overexposed. It is easier to recover detail from shadows than it is to recover blown highlights. I'd do the same again, but dial in between -1 and -2 stops exposure compensation. It would help make the CA less obvious too.

Nick

paulbroad

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20 Jun 2012 - 5:29 PM

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It depends if you are after a record of the bloom or a pictorial effect - the image is quite strong pictorially but is quite over exposed i you want record. You say macro extension lens - do you mean tubes behind the zoom or a close up filter screwed into the lens front? It matters.

You will get better quality with extension tubes than screw in lenses, but your 18/55 is not the ideal lens for macro - no zoom is. If you are really keen on macro you will need a fixed focus lens on tubes, or better still, a dedicated macro lens. If you decide to invest, look at 90 to 105 mm at least - you are too close physically with a 50mm. !50mm is even better but they do cost a lot.

Make sure you get one that does 1:1 - full size. In this image I would have given less exposure and kept the of centre composition, but with the bias to the top right third. The sharpness is actually quite good but there is a vicious circle in macro - depth of field - aperture and exposure. You need depth of field usually, so a small aperture but then there is not enough light for hand holding. Use a tripod for all static subjects, but for things that move - insects - you need to ramp up the ISO - so down goes the quality. Flash becomes imperative.

Paul