The Second one i was happy with

[DarrenT]

Me again,

This is the second image that i seemed to think i had done abetter job on.



Taken in Devon on a weekend holiday in April '07 in the gardens around the hotel.

This image has had the levels adjusted slightly and was then scaled down.

EXIF:

D80
18-135mm kit lens
f5.6
1/1000
ISO 100
Aperture priority
112mm

My personal critique of this is that it would have been a little nice if the background had been a little more blurred out and if the DOF on the main flowers was a little deeper to have a little more sharpness across the petals.

Thanks for looking

[jiminyClickit]

DarrenT, Welcome

You're right. Background can make or break some shots. Sharpness/focus is a premium quality.

The majority of everything I've shot giving a good background were at f/2.8, 1/125th to maybe 1/500th (Sun determined), ISO 100. No way to know if that would work on your gear.

Post work could save this as a good beginning shot. Measure your improvement with it.

[DarrenT]

thanks for the comments

With the lens i had on at the time i couldnt have got down any lower than 5.6 unfortunatly, now i have new toys so i should be able to take a similar shot and get a nicer result in that respect.

what can you suggest for post work on this picture? Photoshop is something i have used for a while but only for Crop, Rotate & Scale!!

I am going through lots of the cover DVDs from mags to learn different photoshop techniques and why they are used but obviously i dont know yet what i need to do to make my own stuff better.

I am actually going back to the same hotel in April this year so i'll try again!

[Murtasma]

I would try to reduce the satuartion on the flowers in the background they kind of compete for attention with the subject of the photograph.

[jiminyClickit]

DarrenT,

The differences between PhotoShop and my program, PhotoDeluxe 4.0 are primarily in language and difficulty level. In the past when I've given my steps in the PD function names (Saturate, Lighten, Color Balance), it seems unclear and too simple for PhotoShop users, who then want to know what the curve was shaped like and the level numbers. Life is too short to go to that much involved complexity, just to change some color and cause a blur.

With your blooms, I'd crop down further, leaving the three orange centers and about the same amount of space around the main in-focus blooms. I'd Select around those blooms, Invert and Blur the background, and Desaturate and Darken the B/G. Maybe after gauging the effect on the main blooms, I'd Lighten them and Contrast until pleased overall.