Lucid Yellow

[praesentire]

Hi everyone,

I would like to submit the following for your critique.



Camera: Nikon D70
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 200 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV
ISO Speed: 200
Post Processing: Levels, Crop, Noise Reduction, Unsharp Mask

This was my attempt at an artistic shot. As the title suggests, I wanted a dreamy look to the whole picture. The only thing is, I find it too dreamy and there is nothing for the audience to focus on.

I would like your opinion on how one could improve upon this type of image to further separate main subject from the background without making it too obvious. One thing I can think of is a reshoot with higher ISO to get the shutter speed I need to freeze the main cluster of flowers. You can see some movements in the shot which, ironically, gives the dreamy feel.

Thank you for your time!

[ELAY]

I leave my ISO at 200, maybe 400 in an absolute pinch, unless I am shooting sports or from the bottom of a well. The noise just isn't worth it -- even if you remove it, you then can get softening. You should always be trying to get your exposure right using aperture and shutter speed; and on nature/landscape, your aperture should be driving your exposure, the main consideration being how much depth of field you want. ISO as a last resort in landscape/nature in my view.

I had a look at your photo in its original size, and I don't really see any movement blur. The flowers at the centre of your photo are a tiny (and I mean tiny) bit soft, but that looks more like focus, or maybe camera tremor (were you on the tripod?) than movement. At 1/320, you really shouldn't be seeing movement blur (unless like now, as I look out my window, there are big gusts).

At 5.6, shooting at 200mm, you have a relatively shallow depth of field, which means your foreground and background flowers are not in focus (that is the blur you see), but that creates a nice effect in my view.

So, some options:

1. If you want more depth of field (more flowers in focus) try closing down your aperture to f/8 or 11. Your shutter speed will drop to around 1/125 or so, deadly if you don't have a tripod, but manageable if you do.

2. If you really want a higher shutter speed, maybe you could try getting a bit closer (don't know how tight you are) and shooting with less zoom/shorter focal length. This may give you more aperture flexibility (I assume that 5.6 is the max at 200, and as you zoom less you can probably get lower f/stops). This may also help sharpness a bit for two reasons: most lenses are softer at either end, with a sweet spot somewhere in the middle where they are sharpest; and camera shake is magnified at long focal lengths. (Not that this is noticeably soft, but I recall that you have exacting standards for sharpness.)

3. You could also try changing your angle of shooting slightly, by getting lower and trying to shoot up a bit -- even a slight change in the angle you shoot at up toward the sky can give you a stop or two of light, which would again give you some flexibility on either f/stop or shutter speed.

As for your last question, separating background from subject, I am not sure what you are thinking of as your subject -- is it the flowers in general, or is it the in-focus flowers in the centre?

If it's the flowers in general, then a higher f/stop will help. If you shoot at f/11, zoomed out to 200 or so, then you will get more flowers in focus, and you should still have a background sufficiently out of focus to create separation.

If the latter, you could add a subtle vignette around the photo, which will fade the blurred blooms while emphasizing the sharp flowers in the centre.

EL

[praesentire]

ELAY,

I agree that the noise clean up is a trade off. Further clue for me to develop my in-camera skill.

I'm not sure where the blur on the flowers that should be in focus came from. I did find that my Tamron lens was having a lot of trouble focusing on these flowers. I should try my skill at manual focus for low contrast subjects next time.

Good point about the f/5.6@200mm combo. I should know by now that the widest I should go with this lens should be f/6.3. I don't remember how close I was to the flowers, but I know that I wasn't at the minimum distance. I should be able to take in the focal length. I should also remember to shoot my subjects from different angles as you pointed out.

Adding vignetting effect is something I did not even consider! That's a great idea for an artistic shot like this.

Thanks very much for your input!

[subrataofkris]

Hello praesentire,

I thought some diffused yellow on all sides may make the central flowers prominent, at the same time keep the dreamy effect. I did a fast job, on your photograph in Photoshop. I am not very good at post processing, some other guys can probably do much better work.

Pls don't mind re-touching your shot.

[praesentire]

Gave it a go at the vignette effect. I like this much better than the original!


subrataofkris,
Thanks for your input. I kept thinking that the main subject should be the brightest area but your suggestion of diffusion is something I didn't think about. It's cool that through this forum, I've learned (and still learning) to break out of the routine thinking pattern that I've gotten used to.

[ELAY]

Looks very nice.

EL

[jiminyClickit]

praesentire,

For a daydream look, consider using white on the outer edge of your vignette. Blooms will appear to be coming out of a cloud or daytime fog.

[praesentire]

jiminyClickit,
Thanks for the tip! I'm finding the white vignette effect harder to apply than the dark one. I'll keep playing with it though.

[ELAY]

White will be a challenge -- not seeing how you manage the transition into the darks in the centre of the frame.

EL

[windrider86]

This all sounds quite intriguing. If you are going to play with the white would you post your final product? I am quite interested!