I don’t like Oxeye Daisies. They’re a persistent invasive in the prairies here and get so thick they tangle the legs and get in the way of pulling other invasives that are even more damaging. I find myself yanking it out by the armload at times. But then there are days like yesterday when we had fog just before sunrise and everything was heavily coated with dew. My wife sent me out to take pictures of the carpet of spiderwebs on the lawn, but my tripod was set up right beside this and I couldn’t resist it and another nearby daisy.
Anything. This is a fourteen image stack. Are there stacking anomalies showing?
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Are the shadows on the unlit side too much?
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
5DIII, 180 mm f/3.5 macro, tripod, fourteen images at f/11, 1/800, iso 800, manual exposure, manual focus. Stacked in Helicon Focus. Further processing in LR & PS CC. A bit of micro contrast enhancement in Topaz Detail 3. Most of the background was very dark, so I just took the rest of it in that direction by selecting a color from one of the darker areas and painting over the light spots. Taken yesterday at 6:52 am.
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Oh Dennis, this is absolutely gorgeous. Hard to image that this pretty flower could be an issue. You sure presented it like it was a lovely flower in the early light with a nice bit of dew on it. I love that there are a few strings of web between some of the petals with dew drops on them as well. I just think “fresh” when looking at this beauty.
Sorry to hear about your love/hate relationship with this beautiful flower Dennis. But certainly understandable. We have some of these in our yard, only because it’s one of the flowers the deer won’t eat. I do love the detail and lighting you’ve captured in this photo. And yes, the dew on the spider web is a very nice addition. Lovely capture.
Nice dew covered flower with good detail. Having read through Mike Moats AMA, I wonder if you’ve compared your focus staking results with a single shot at f22 or higher?
@Allen_Brooks If I’d realized the background was going to be so nicely dark, I might have tried it as a single shot, though I’d probably have done a stack as well. Getting that large a flower sharp front-to-back and large in the frame is very difficult to do even at f/32 which is as high as that lens goes and I wanted the side view which worked against my depth of field. I shot another daisy straight-on that morning and used a single shot there, though not at f/22. I might post that one for comparison.
Love to see these along the roadside. Unfortunately the town’s highway department decided to mow when they were at their peak bloom two years ago and consequently almost eliminated them. You did a wonderful job capturing their beauty with the dappled light and water drops.
Well done Dennis. For me this is about the dew covered spider webs. It is such a small detail but it takes a rather ordinary flower and takes it over the top. Love the black background. No, I can’t see any focus stacking issues but I didn’t look that hard either. I was mesmerised by the tiny drops of water on the spider webs.
Wow! This is absolutely wonderful and everything looks great to me as is. I love the water droplets and the small webs add even more. Shadows look very nice and the dark background really makes this stand out. Beautifully crafted and processed.
Boy, Dennis, this is beautiful. The details of the water droplets and the tiny spider webs are beautiful and really stand out against the background. I can barely imaging how hard it was to set 14 different focal points manually. I’m not sure the throw of my focus ring would allow for so many micro adjustments manually! Super well done. Congratulations on a beauty.
