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Photo Critique

W

Wallydraigle

Banned
I know there are several people here into photography who can give me some advice. See the photo here. PhotoSig used to be a really terrific site, but it's become just a big spam fest and I don't spend much time there now. Most of my subjects are kind of weird and obscure so I don't get many comments. That doesn't really bother me, but I'm just not happy with this shot and advise is a bit lacking. I finally got one guy to give some comments, but I don't think his suggestions will give me what I want. What does ATOT think?
 
Nice photo (and equipment)! The only thing I could possibly suggest is that I'm not quite sure what the subject is; with the pictures of both fungi, my eyes aren't sure which subject to focus on. The color contrast and use of light are great, though.

Rob
 
Originally posted by: ffmcobalt
Originally posted by: lirion
Originally posted by: LSUfan
nice photo
Click to expand...



Thanks, but how could I make it better?
Click to expand...

Take pictures of sh|t that people can identify what it is 😛
Click to expand...


That was brilliant,

here.
rolleye.gif


Now beat it you nef😛
 
Hmm

I like the pic. 😀

You are a perfectionist, as is anyone serious about this kind of thing.


I like the subject and composition.

I would like to sharpen the focus around the rim of the cup. You have a hard subject in terms of lighting ratios. Ideally, I would like to lower the contrast a bit. Cups were well exposed inside though. A limit of the medium I think. This is where film would be superior.
 
Originally posted by: Entity
Nice photo (and equipment)! The only thing I could possibly suggest is that I'm not quite sure what the subject is; with the pictures of both fungi, my eyes aren't sure which subject to focus on. The color contrast and use of light are great, though.

Rob
Click to expand...


Thanks. I can see what you mean by that. When the new ones come up later in the summer I'll try to get a shot of a tighter group of them.
 
Originally posted by: lirion
Originally posted by: ffmcobalt
Originally posted by: lirion
Originally posted by: LSUfan
nice photo
Click to expand...



Thanks, but how could I make it better?
Click to expand...

Take pictures of sh|t that people can identify what it is 😛
Click to expand...


That was brilliant,

here.
rolleye.gif


Now beat it you nef😛
Click to expand...

Relax, dude. Nice job on both.

The first one needs more vibrant color and the second one needs to be brightened.

That's my super-lack-of-skill advice for you.
 
I like it, if the front edges of the cups could be a little sharper it would be cool. It did give me a horrible flashback back to plant biology. At least I will sleep well tonight though.

Entinity, I'd like the feeling of being a little closer to the person. I'll bet that would be really sweet too at sunset, especially if the sun is over the water....
 
Originally posted by: Hayabusarider
Hmm

I like the pic. 😀

You are a perfectionist, as is anyone serious about this kind of thing.


I like the subject and composition.

I would like to sharpen the focus around the rim of the cup. You have a hard subject in terms of lighting ratios. Ideally, I would like to lower the contrast a bit. Cups were well exposed inside though. A limit of the medium I think. This is where film would be superior.
Click to expand...

Yeah, film would have given more exposure leeway on the highlights. The fungi are made of of tiny strands almost like silk, and when the light hits them they can be more reflective than you would think.

Thanks for your suggestions. Did you ever get that view camera you were looking at?

 
Originally posted by: ffmcobalt
Originally posted by: lirion
Originally posted by: ffmcobalt
Originally posted by: lirion
Originally posted by: LSUfan
nice photo
Click to expand...



Thanks, but how could I make it better?
Click to expand...

Take pictures of sh|t that people can identify what it is 😛
Click to expand...


That was brilliant,

here.
rolleye.gif


Now beat it you nef😛
Click to expand...

Relax, dude. Nice job on both.

The first one needs more vibrant color and the second one needs to be brightened.

That's my super-lack-of-skill advice for you.
Click to expand...

It's cool, that rolly eyed smiley just slipped in there somehow.
 
Originally posted by: Soybomb
I like it, if the front edges of the cups could be a little sharper it would be cool. It did give me a horrible flashback back to plant biology. At least I will sleep well tonight though.

Entinity, I'd like the feeling of being a little closer to the person. I'll bet that would be really sweet too at sunset, especially if the sun is over the water....
Click to expand...


The thing is that at magnifications that make photos like that possible, the most depth of field you can squeeze out of it is a millimeter or two. Selective focus is the name of the game. At 5:1 on that lens at a nominal f/16 depth of field is something like .2mm. At 2:1 I think it's almost 2mm, but I haven't done the math.
 
Originally posted by: lirion
Originally posted by: Hayabusarider
Hmm

I like the pic. 😀

You are a perfectionist, as is anyone serious about this kind of thing.


I like the subject and composition.

I would like to sharpen the focus around the rim of the cup. You have a hard subject in terms of lighting ratios. Ideally, I would like to lower the contrast a bit. Cups were well exposed inside though. A limit of the medium I think. This is where film would be superior.
Click to expand...

Yeah, film would have given more exposure leeway on the highlights. The fungi are made of of tiny strands almost like silk, and when the light hits them they can be more reflective than you would think.

Thanks for your suggestions. Did you ever get that view camera you were looking at?
Click to expand...

Afraid I did not. I decided to wait for my bonus, but my Springer Spaniel had a complete ACL rupture. Had to have a very costly surgery. He is like one of the family though, and the choice was him or the camera. Doggie won. Maybe later in the year. Who can say?

 
Originally posted by: lirion
I know there are several people here into photography who can give me some advice. See the photo here. PhotoSig used to be a really terrific site, but it's become just a big spam fest and I don't spend much time there now. Most of my subjects are kind of weird and obscure so I don't get many comments. That doesn't really bother me, but I'm just not happy with this shot and advise is a bit lacking. I finally got one guy to give some comments, but I don't think his suggestions will give me what I want. What does ATOT think?
Click to expand...

composition is fine.
the focus points is off. were you shooting in auto focus and auto mode? You probably can tell cause the bottom part of the nest is out of focus and it shouldn't be. Also, the lower part of the picture, the bark, is also not in focus. The bottom of the nest couldn't be more than 2 inches higher than the eggs and the bark, it can't be lower than everything else. And at f32 the depth of field should put everything in focus.

Was the day really bright or did you shoot with flash?
 
Originally posted by: Hayabusarider
Originally posted by: lirion
Originally posted by: Hayabusarider
Hmm

I like the pic. 😀

You are a perfectionist, as is anyone serious about this kind of thing.


I like the subject and composition.

I would like to sharpen the focus around the rim of the cup. You have a hard subject in terms of lighting ratios. Ideally, I would like to lower the contrast a bit. Cups were well exposed inside though. A limit of the medium I think. This is where film would be superior.
Click to expand...

Yeah, film would have given more exposure leeway on the highlights. The fungi are made of of tiny strands almost like silk, and when the light hits them they can be more reflective than you would think.

Thanks for your suggestions. Did you ever get that view camera you were looking at?
Click to expand...

Afraid I did not. I decided to wait for my bonus, but my Springer Spaniel had a complete ACL rupture. Had to have a very costly surgery. He is like one of the family though, and the choice was him or the camera. Doggie won. Maybe later in the year. Who can say?
Click to expand...


Well, that sucks, but I'm sure you'll get it sometime. You've got to do what you've got to do when your dog is at stake I guess.




composition is fine.
the focus points is off. were you shooting in auto focus and auto mode? You probably can tell cause the bottom part of the nest is out of focus and it shouldn't be. Also, the lower part of the picture, the bark, is also not in focus. The bottom of the nest couldn't be more than 2 inches higher than the eggs and the bark, it can't be lower than everything else. And at f32 the depth of field should put everything in focus.

Was the day really bright or did you shoot with flash?
Click to expand...


Hi. Thanks for looking at my photo. Depth of field is just really small. There's nothing I can do to squeeze anymore out of it. It's no more than two millimeters deep in this shot. You should see some of my stuff done at 5x, where depth of field is less than one millimeter deep. When I shoot I just have to try to focus on the most important part, like a spider's eyes, or in this case the spore cases.

All equipment I used is entered with the photo. I used my macro flash.



Thanks for the critiques everyone!

 
I think the problem is you're shooting it from the wrong angle. I realize you want to show the interior of the cups but what I think would make this shot more appealing would be Just a TINY bit of the interior, the shot should be angled below the top of the cup as much as possible (while preserving a view of the interior.. it would be virtually straight on) The cups should be lit from underneath, to create a sense of height.

Am I making sense... I can see it but I probably can't explain it very well... the best shot of this subject would be from below rather than above I think is my main point.
 
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