Toadstool

[silverbirch]

I took this photo today and would like some feedback on improvements. For starters I think I could have cleared some of the debris from the foreground - I have cropped some of it out.

However my main concern is the over exposure of the top of the toadstool. How could I have prevented that? Is there anything I can do in Photoshop CS2 to improve it? I have used levels, a selective colour tutorial, and curves to enhance it, but haven't sharpened, in case I want to try anything else.

Many thanks. One of my first shots with first DSLR.

[Murtasma]

I would have cleared the debris from the foreground if this is something you did not want in the image. Working slowly will usually get you the best macro images (as long as your not working on an insect or something that is dynamic).

I don't know if you used a tripod but the type of image you wanted to produced probably needed one in this situation.

1. Remove Debris from foreground
2. Get a white plastic card (several sizes would be best so you can have the right size for the right situation)
3. Dig a small hole in front of the mushroom with an appropriate slant to bounce sunlight to the gills under the cap of the mushroom.
4. Expose the image so the cap of the mushroom is not blown out. The gills should receive some light bouncing off your white care. While they may not be as bright as the cap they should be lit better then no bounce at all.

Here is a a crappy picture of what I'm trying to explain. The yellow line would be your reflector.



To take it a step further you can
Invest in a ring flash (specialized macro flash) or just a general flash and appropriate sync cable/radio trigger to get the flash off the hot shoe. You can then use the flash to provide some fill light to your scene.

Another handy thing for in the field shooting are white umbrellas (used for hot lights and strobes). These are great to take harsh sunlight and diffuse it as well as blocking any wind from shaking your subjects (a dual purpose. )

Another possibility is to use a tripod and take an exposure for the cap then take one for the gills and combine them in photoshop to make a single image. You could also take even more then 2 exposures and create a HDRI image that you can then tonemap. Personally I think the results would be better just taking two exposures and then masking them together by hand.

[silverbirch]

Thank you so much for the information, I've printed it for further reference. The white card is a great idea! Just need a day off to find some more toadstools and try again :-) The flash will have to wait, as I want to buy a macro lens next :-)

[Murtasma]

A card to bounce light from should help but it also depends on the ambient light around the subject. If it's very overcast or there is lots of shade you may not have much luck. A card is cheep however and simple to use. I always carry one around in my camera bag.