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What do you think? I am not 100% happy...

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    What do you think? I am not 100% happy...

    I have just picked up my EOS 7D for the first time in months, and just popped outside the cottage and took these two images... these are right out of the camera apart from I increased the exposure on the 2nd image by 1 stop to lighten it...

    My opinion....

    Not clear... There is a little breeze around so the flower was moving so may I need a faster speed?

    The first image the "grey/green stem distracts...

    Need to practise more I think...

    I used my 60mm Macro lens for both...

    Only way to learn is to practise and take advice "on-board" from members of this site ;)

    Stuart

    Flower Forum 1.jpg

    Flower Forum 2.jpg
    Stuart Tunstall
    York - UK

    - Canon EOS 7D - Tamron 18 - 270mm f3.5 - 6.3 Di II VC - Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM - Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM - Canon Speedlight 580EX II - Canon Timer Remote Control TC 80N3 - Giottos GTMTL9361B with MH5001 Head - Lowpro 300AW Backpack - Photoshop CC - Lightroom CC - Aurora HDR 2018 - Photolemur 3 - Plus a few other bits -

    #2
    Re: What do you think? I am not 100% happy...

    100% user error stuart in the second shot the top stamen has grabbed the focus along with the bud at the same level to the left of it .in the first shot the green leaf to the right has grabbed the focus along its top edge .we often find this with bird photography where a thin twig or grass stem will grab focus instead of the bird ,its just we don't notice them through the small viewfinder

    Comment


      #3
      Re: What do you think? I am not 100% happy...

      Thanks for the reply...

      Need to learn to use all the focus points rather than just the centre one :)
      Stuart Tunstall
      York - UK

      - Canon EOS 7D - Tamron 18 - 270mm f3.5 - 6.3 Di II VC - Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM - Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM - Canon Speedlight 580EX II - Canon Timer Remote Control TC 80N3 - Giottos GTMTL9361B with MH5001 Head - Lowpro 300AW Backpack - Photoshop CC - Lightroom CC - Aurora HDR 2018 - Photolemur 3 - Plus a few other bits -

      Comment


        #4
        Re: What do you think? I am not 100% happy...

        It's more to do with shallow depth of field stuart ,a 60mm d.o.f is minimal and it really does need carefull handling ,I have tried macro twice in the past and given up and sold the lenses both times ,kudos to the lads that can get it right

        Comment


          #5
          Re: What do you think? I am not 100% happy...

          Originally posted by stuarttunstall View Post
          Thanks for the reply...

          Need to learn to use all the focus points rather than just the centre one :)
          For macro work it's almost always best to use a single focus point; that will enable the most accurate focussing. Using all points will result in focus being set at the point nearest the camera... Practice makes perfect...
          Cheers;
          Lee
          ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
          All fair comment & critique will always be welcomed !
          5D3, 80D, 40D (IR), G3X
          17-40 f/4, 24-105 f/4, 70-200 f/2.8, 100-400 f/4.5-5.6, 100 f/2.8 Macro, Sigma 150-600 Sport

          Comment


            #6
            Re: What do you think? I am not 100% happy...

            Thank you :) will do a lot more practising :)
            Stuart Tunstall
            York - UK

            - Canon EOS 7D - Tamron 18 - 270mm f3.5 - 6.3 Di II VC - Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM - Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM - Canon Speedlight 580EX II - Canon Timer Remote Control TC 80N3 - Giottos GTMTL9361B with MH5001 Head - Lowpro 300AW Backpack - Photoshop CC - Lightroom CC - Aurora HDR 2018 - Photolemur 3 - Plus a few other bits -

            Comment


              #7
              Re: What do you think? I am not 100% happy...

              Hi Stuart

              At that magnification and with that limited amount of light, I think you were on a hiding to nothing.

              Yes you need to have just a single focus point activated, or go to manual focus, to ensure that what you want to be in focus, is in focus. In reality, you would want the red and purple petals in focus and ideally also the stamens. That means lots of depth of field at f16, or f22 and with that magnification, if the petals are sharp, you will be losing it on the stamens. The alternative is a tripod and focus one shot on the petals, another of the stamen and join them together post capture. An alternative may have been a 3/4 shot, where you may have had enough depth of field to capture the whole shot in-camera.

              You mentioned there was some breeze around and that will be magnified with a macro shot. If your lens has IS, that is only minimising camera shake and not subject movement, so you will need to shoot at a sufficiently high shutter speed to minimise subject movement.

              So with lack of light, the need to maximise depth of field and a high shutter speed to freeze the action, you will need to up the ISO considerably to get an acceptable shot and that starts to introduce digital noise. You can now appreciate why many macro specialists use flash as the main light, or fill light, to their subjects.

              The last thing I would consider with any garden macro is some gardening. You don't need to cut or prune, but look carefully through the viewfinder and examine the background. A length of gardening string just to pull something out of the way before you take the shot is much better than spending ages on the computer trying to get rid of it after the shot.

              Hope that helps.
              Colin

              Comment


                #8
                Re: What do you think? I am not 100% happy...

                Minor point regarding the second image: IMHO it's just too tight on the sides ... would be better to have a little space around the tips of the petals ...

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: What do you think? I am not 100% happy...

                  Thank you both for the excellent advise... Knew I asked in the right place :)

                  Will do a few move "practice" shots and ask for your opinions again ..

                  Stuart
                  Stuart Tunstall
                  York - UK

                  - Canon EOS 7D - Tamron 18 - 270mm f3.5 - 6.3 Di II VC - Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM - Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM - Canon Speedlight 580EX II - Canon Timer Remote Control TC 80N3 - Giottos GTMTL9361B with MH5001 Head - Lowpro 300AW Backpack - Photoshop CC - Lightroom CC - Aurora HDR 2018 - Photolemur 3 - Plus a few other bits -

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: What do you think? I am not 100% happy...

                    Originally posted by stuarttunstall View Post
                    Thank you both for the excellent advise... Knew I asked in the right place :)

                    Will do a few move "practice" shots and ask for your opinions again ..

                    Stuart
                    It's what makes this forum great!
                    Chris
                    80D - 10-18 IS STM - 15-85 IS USM - 55-250 IS STM - 50 f/1.8 STM - 100-400L IS II USM - 100 f/2.8L Macro - 1.4x III

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: What do you think? I am not 100% happy...

                      I agree....

                      First test.... Master Macro photography

                      Need to start somewhere so why not

                      Stuart
                      Stuart Tunstall
                      York - UK

                      - Canon EOS 7D - Tamron 18 - 270mm f3.5 - 6.3 Di II VC - Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM - Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM - Canon Speedlight 580EX II - Canon Timer Remote Control TC 80N3 - Giottos GTMTL9361B with MH5001 Head - Lowpro 300AW Backpack - Photoshop CC - Lightroom CC - Aurora HDR 2018 - Photolemur 3 - Plus a few other bits -

                      Comment

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