PineCone Stump

[johnjuan57]

Im working on my Macro shots and came up with this one, and I was wondering. Is the exposure and color ok on this shot? Any comments and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks

Camera GENERAL IMAGING CO. X5
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture f/3.0
Focal Length 4.9 mm
ISO Speed 100



Thanks for taking the time to look.

[acoleman]

I'm no expert, but personally, I love the shot. Think it looks great... if I had to come up with one thing to say about it, I would like that twig thing that the pine cone is laying on to be gone... but that's just me and it's no big deal. I like it!

[katia]

i think the exposure is okay, but it looks like you "faked" the blurred background?

not sure why it appears that way if you didn't.

[graciousness]

Originally Posted by katia

i think the exposure is okay, but it looks like you "faked" the blurred background?

not sure why it appears that way if you didn't.

This is due to the really fast shutter speed used where it will reduce the amount of ambient light the faster it is. I am guessing that this was taken on a really bright day and hence, the fast shutter speed to compensate for brightness.

I do have one question to the OP and that is, did you blur the background in post processing? Either that, or the pine cone was super dodged (lightened) and sharpened to bring it out. I do think that it's a touch overdone, but it's not bad. You can see some blur on the butt edge of the pine cone though, that's why I am thinking that either the background was blurred for extra effect.

I also agree with that red pine needle next to it - clone it out to get a cleaner image. I'd do that little tiny leaf, too, as it's competing for attention (bold colour against neutral colours of the pine cone and stump).

Great job, though, and it's refreshing to see macro work that's not either flowers or bugs Mind you, this is more of a close-up shot reallly but I guess you used a macro lens for the job.

[johnjuan57]

Thanks to all, for the great comments and critiques. I did use the macro setting on the camera, I don't have the separate macro lens. I wanted a little more DOF so I did blur the background, I'm just not very good at it yet. I have a hard time staying within the lines when drawing with a mouse and finger cursor. But I'm learning, thanks to all the help I get on this great website. Thanks again, John