We had a strange wildflower season here in Oregon. The snowpack was heavy and late followed by much higher than normal temperatures. Flowers came in quickly after the snow melt and burned out quickly. Only where there were lingering snowbanks were there abundant flowers mid season. This was taken near Mt. Hood, in August.
All comments are welcome
Canon R5, 100mm macro, f/29, 1/250 sec, ring flash.
I like it very much - the bold star against the dark background is quite striking. Did you get that from basically just using the flash and darkening it down? It’s effective. Not sure it is as sharp as it might be though. I see you’re at f/29 and probably not at the lens’s sweet spot. Did you need to do that for some reason? Are these very deep flowers? If so, focus stacking can be your best friend. Sorry for the abbreviated flower season.
Thank you for your comments.
I have conducted lens tests with the standard chart and there definitely is a fall off of quality after f/16. However, in the real world, for a high quality lens, the diffraction distortion has not been a problem for me. Art Wolfe often uses very small openings. I rarely print over 16"x20" and at a typical viewing distance, they are very sharp at f/29. Any lack of sharpness is most likely due to my hand holding and moving the camera slightly after it focuses.
I have used both stacking and cloning to achieve increased dof, but often don’t feel like I need it.
Beautiful shape and nice detail in the whites!
Don, excellent image with striking contrast with the dark background. The shape of the flower is mesmerizing. Well done!
