Flowers

[Camomilla]

Hi to all,
today I have bought some nice gerberas for my balcony and the blue sky inspired me to take some pictures of them. I'm trying experimenting with different ideas that I get to know here in DPS, and this is what came to my mind:



Exif:
Nikon D70s
Exposition 0,002 sec (1/500)
Aperture f/8.0
ISOSetting 250
Lens 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5

no editing at all as far as contrast, wb and saturation are concerned, just cropped a bit from the right and from the left. do you think the flowers should be more in focus? I don't have a macro lens and this was the most acceptable result with the kit lens.
thanks to anyone who'd want to leave an opinion!
have a nice day
Camomilla

[TBrown00]

The focus point seems to have fallen on the flower in the back making the ones in front out of focus. Try focusing on one of the front two flowers next time.
Exposure looks good, but maybe slightly underexposed. If the exposure was slightly higher though you might've blown out the red channel in the non shadow areas. It's very easy to blow out the red channel, but you avoided that in this case and kept the detail in the flowers.
This looks like it was taken around midday. If it was taken at another time the shadows wouldn't be as harsh and the flowers would probably be lit more evenly

[Camomilla]

TBrown, I was just editing the message saying that the focus point seemed to keep the flowers out ! you got it just as I meant it. unfortunately I wasn't able to focus on the front flowers, but may be it's not the lens but my insufficient training. will try do do better tomorrow (if there's sun, they said it will be overcast tomorrow...). ah, the photo was taken around 2.30 pm, unfortunately after 4 pm the sun goes behind the house and doesn't light my flowers

thanks again!
Camomilla

[TBrown00]

Originally Posted by Camomilla

TBrown, I was just editing the message saying that the focus point seemed to keep the flowers out ! you got it just as I meant it. unfortunately I wasn't able to focus on the front flowers, but may be it's not the lens but my insufficient training. will try do do better tomorrow (if there's sun, they said it will be overcast tomorrow...). ah, the photo was taken around 2.30 pm, unfortunately after 4 pm the sun goes behind the house and doesn't light my flowers

thanks again!
Camomilla

You're welcome!
How far from the flowers were you? The minimum focusing distance for the 18-70 is 1.3ft (0.38m). If the front flowers were within this distance, then the lens can't focus on them.
What's the light like during the morning? Overcast days can actually be some of the best to shoot during. The clouds act as a giant diffuser and give nice, soft lighting.

[Camomilla]

Hi! i was like 20 cm from the flowers, and it explains the fact that the front flowers are not in focus. the sun in the morning lights all the balcony, going from the left side (where the flowers are) towards the right side and then goes round the building. when I shot this picture the sun was right behind me on the right side of the balcony... this morning the sky is overcast, I'm going to go and make some shots to see what they will look like!
thanks again for your advice, I'm only learning and it's very useful to hear others' opinions!
have a nice day!
Camomilla

[Camomilla]

done. this is the result:

My gerberas on an overcast day | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

i like the contrast between the red of the flowers and the grey of the sky, but the mood of the photo is totally different I would say!

[jjbacoomba]

Wow! I love the way the color came out.What a difference. The focus looked good too.

[TBrown00]

Looks great! I like the even lighting with no shadows provided by the clouds. The color and focus looks really good this time

[EOBeav]

The second one is definitely an improvement. My only suggestion is to take these from a little higher angle. My preference is to be able to see into the flower, but that's just one guys opinion.

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[Camomilla]

Thank you guys, I'm glad that I managed to improve!
EOBeav, I think I have a pic of these flowers right for you:
My new gerberas | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

thank you all very much once again, I'll try experimenting with these beautiful gerberas again till I get a perfect shot of them!
wish you a good beginning of the week!
Camomilla