Soft Look

[hmadhur]

Dear friends,
I bought a Nikon D50 last month from San Jose. I was staying in a Hotel and just outside the window there was this tree which started blossoming. There was a mosquito net between the tree and my camera. I am not sure whether this caused the soft look in the photo. I am wondering whether the flower is in focus or not.
How can I make this better or how could I have made it look better? I feel the colors have not come properly and the net is visible. How can I make the net disappear? The flower was looking very bright to the naked eye. How can I retain that?
I am fairly new to the SLR world and am experimenting with D50 right now.



Nikon D50
f8, 1/180
ISO 400

Thanks!

Regards,
Madhur

[t blanchard]

What I like about the mosquito net is that is adds a really interesting texture to the photo. I'm sure the netting caused the soft colors, but I don't think that's a bad thing!

If you really don't like the effect, I'm not sure what to tell you other than moving the netting next time. It's such a fine weave that it might be difficult to shoot through without seeing it. Someone else might have another idea though!

[hmadhur]

Thanks for the response.

I was not exactly expecting to see this result. I was using a Kodak Z612 (point and shoot) earlier. The camera would not focus through the net onto the flower. I was surprised to see that the SLR went ahead and focused on the flower.

I am actually happy with the result, its just that I felt the net could be nullified. But as you said, it has given a unique texture to the image, I had not thought of it like that. Thanks again!!

[PrimeTime]

Does this help any..............i played around and brought out a little more color and detail.



I adjusted with the curves tool...........added some saturation..........adjusted contrast and brightness.............and sharpened. I like the background.

[hmadhur]

Thanks PrimeTime. Thats good. Yes, It looks much better than my image, but I think a little less sharpening will do. Curves tool eh? Ok, thats something I need to know. Time to do some more research.

[PrimeTime]

Originally Posted by hmadhur

Thanks PrimeTime. Thats good. Yes, It looks much better than my image, but I think a little less sharpening will do. Curves tool eh? Ok, thats something I need to know. Time to do some more research.

I'm not shure what your using to process with, but i was using the free software called gimp. There is a ton of information at a website called www.meetthegimp.org . Even if you are using a different software, the same theory's will apply to the curve tool. Check it out. very good tutorials.

[jprime84]

From the start, you could further remove the netting by shooting at a lower aperture. This would make your depth of field more shallow, and drive the net farther out of focus - possibly so much so that it could not be seen.

[AnneWynne]

Yes, the netting created the soft effect. This is a trick you can use to soften the background while you are photographing it....hang a length of netting behind your subject and infront of the background...instant gaussian blur on the background!

AnneWynne