Flower-long exposure

[Electric]

Camera Canon EOS REBEL T3
Exposure 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture f/5.6
Focal Length 51 mm
ISO Speed 800


After spending ages on long exposure tutorials, I finally decided to give it a go on my backyard flower plant. It does look good to me, but since im still learning I know I must have done something wrong. I need critiques here and if there can be anything better that would improve this shot

[Doug Sundseth]

First the image: Well exposed and sharp. Composition is weak. I'd recommend showing more of the stem to increase visual interest and possibly dynamic tension.

Second: Long exposure? If you're shooting swallows flying, 1/160 second is a long exposure. If you're shooting basketball, 1/160 second is a long exposure. If you're shooting flowers – not so much. But I haven't any inkling why you would want to use a long exposure to shoot a static subject anyway.

If you're set on shooting a long exposure, though, the first thing you should do is lower your ISO. Raising ISO shortens exposure (given that you're shooting to the same brightness). It also increases digital noise, which you usually don't want.

[Electric]

First the image: Well exposed and sharp. Composition is weak. I'd recommend showing more of the stem to increase visual interest and possibly dynamic tension.

Second: Long exposure? If you're shooting swallows flying, 1/160 second is a long exposure. If you're shooting basketball, 1/160 second is a long exposure. If you're shooting flowers – not so much. But I haven't any inkling why you would want to use a long exposure to shoot a static subject anyway.

If you're set on shooting a long exposure, though, the first thing you should do is lower your ISO. Raising ISO shortens exposure (given that you're shooting to the same brightness). It also increases digital noise, which you usually don't want.

Ouch But thank you! I appreciate it. The reason why i did do the long exposure is because I was just testing several things and I just randomly clicked this one. It turned out way better than I expected. Usually I would shoot one, it would be fairly between 1/25 or 1/30. and it wont be that sharp to be honest. But I was going through many flickr images and they had shot various static images on long exposure, such as sunset/sunrise etc. So I thought why not this? What would be your recommended setting for this?

As for the stem, I would definitely consider that! I thought just the rose would look good enough but it didnt . And yes I will shorten the ISO next time =)

[Nikesmom]

I am confused. What am I misunderstanding?

I believe that a shutter speed of 1/25 or 1/30 would be a longer exposure than 1/160? I am a beginner so forgive me if I'm in error. But your picture is most likely sharper in this 1/160 because of the faster shutter speed - more likely it was able to stop motion of wind or camera shake. Your pictures that are at 1/25 or 1/30 may have a less sharp focus because those shutter speeds are slower and less able to stop motion / camera shake. You should be able to get sharper images at 1/25 or 1/30 with the use of a tripod - (assuming your flower isn't blowing in the wind). If you shoot slower shutter speed using a tripod you can probably also lower your ISO as you will have more light to use.

[shocellist]

I am confused. What am I misunderstanding?

I believe that a shutter speed of 1/25 or 1/30 would be a longer exposure than 1/160? I am a beginner so forgive me if I'm in error. But your picture is most likely sharper in this 1/160 because of the faster shutter speed - more likely it was able to stop motion of wind or camera shake. Your pictures that are at 1/25 or 1/30 may have a less sharp focus because those shutter speeds are slower and less able to stop motion / camera shake. You should be able to get sharper images at 1/25 or 1/30 with the use of a tripod - (assuming your flower isn't blowing in the wind). If you shoot slower shutter speed using a tripod you can probably also lower your ISO as you will have more light to use.

You're right--1/25s is slower (longer) than 1/160. So I'm not too sure why this is a long exposure shot. However, that's really a minor detail I suppose.
I agree that this shot is sharper most likely because of wind and camera shake (if no tripod was used). At 51mm, a shutter speed of 1/30 or 1/25 is likely to allow camera shake and even the slightest wind can disturb the focus. I would recommend shooting flowers at a decently fast shutter speed just to mitigate wind.

The reason many people shoot long exposures of static scenes is to turn them into dynamic images that show movement. Given a long enough exposure, even clouds show their movement. In this photo, I don't think you'll want to show movement, and therefore you won't want to use a long-exposure. Having a very sharp macro photo is desired. However, there's no harm in trying it out!

[Electric]

Now im confused. I usually shoot my subjects with that speed 1/25. When i was goiing through tutorials, I saw the long exposure going over 1/100 or 1/250 etc. So if this is not long exposure then what is it

As for the feedback, I appreciate it. The reason why it looks sharper is also because I did a bit of photoshop work too. Played with the contrast, the real image looks like this



The thing is, at this point I do not have a tripod. But even when I do get one, I always want to know the best setting for each object. it keeps changing so I end up messing my picture a lot although I have a good object.

[Roshenk]

A long exposure could be half a second or so, but is usually far longer. Think 10 seconds on up to minutes/hours/a month and a half.

1/100th of a second is a pretty average shutter speed. Fast enough with most lenses to eliminate camera shake and capture a moment. However in good light I have shot with far faster, most everyone has. 1/25 or 1/30 is a speed I try to avoid unless the lens I am using has a very short focal length, IS or preferably both.

[Electric]

^ Gotcha! Thanks!

[shocellist]

I think you may have gotten confused a bit because 1/25 looks like it could be smaller than 1/100 (100>25, of course). It's an easy mistake to make! And even easier when dealing with aperture since the f number is a reciprocal of diameter...

In any event, since you don't have a tripod, I would suggest shooting your subjects (this goes for everything you shoot) at no slower than 1/focal length. So for 50mm, 1/50, 1/100, 1/200, etc. Since you're on a crop sensor, I'd actually recommend aiming for faster than 1/focal length. So instead of 1/50, maybe 1/60 or even a bit faster to be safe. That will reduce camera shake and result in sharper images!

[Electric]

You guys have been great! Thanks so much, I will definitely keep all this in mind now