# Backlit Buttercup **URL:** \ **Category:** Image Critiques\ **Tags:** plant-life, macro-close-up\ **Created:** [March 31, 2026, 2:58am UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/backlit-buttercup/50286 "2026-03-31T02:58:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_Holdorf](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/paul_holdorf/32/24908_2.png) [@Paul\_Holdorf](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Paul_Holdorf)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 2:58am UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/backlit-buttercup/50286/1 "2026-03-31T02:58:31Z")
![2026-03-28 17-01-52 (C,S9)-9.jpg](https://images.naturephotographers.network/original/3X/f/7/f72760521f4e2010f18670dc1d0cc579fbeed8bc.jpeg) > **Critique Style Requested:** _Standard_ > > The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image. ### Description Hot off the presses! I went out Sunday morning before I had seen the weekly challenge looking for my forest wildflower of the year. I was successful in finding some. ### Specific Feedback Buttercups are so waxy and shiny that it’s sometimes hard to keep from blowing out the shiny spots, but this one was backlit, so I figured that might help. I always wonder how these macro shots are perceived since they expose some texture and detail that our eyes can not pick up. It sort of renders it sparkly. Is that a bad thing? It was a little breezy, so the flower moved a fair bit, but it moved as a unit and Helicon aligns things fairly well. There are few sort of starburst artifacts that I think may be a result of this. Also, the background was dark, but I darkened it even more. Do you think I went too far? I found the brown grass and other organic debris to be a little distracting, even when out of focus. ### Technical Details Nikon Z8 Sigma 105 Macro f/2.8 ISO 64, f/5.6, 1/1000th 84 images stacked in Helicon Focus. This flower is somewhere between 1/2" and 3/4" wide. I was as close as minimum focus distance would allow, so the depth of field for each image is pretty tiny! I like the way it renders the background though, so I go for fairly large apertures. In this case, 5.6 was as large as possible for the proximity. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Seaver](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/mark_seaver/32/231_2.png) [@Mark\_Seaver](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Mark_Seaver)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 12:11pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/backlit-buttercup/50286/2 "2026-03-31T12:11:47Z")
Paul, the flower pops out well and shows excellent detail. Personally, I’d like to see a bit of the background on the left. To me that adds some context. I do see some softness around the edges of the stamen that may be Helicon’s well known problem in handling bright tones (letting the bright rear element shine through a sharp front element, partially hiding the front element and leaving it blurry). You can see the issue by stepping through the retouch in the Helicon stack, but I sure hate to suggest that you redo an 84 shot stack!!! ---
**Author:** ![Dennis\_Plank](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/dennis_plank/32/27033_2.png) [@Dennis\_Plank](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Dennis_Plank)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 5:49pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/backlit-buttercup/50286/3 "2026-03-31T17:49:57Z")
I think the backlight worked very well, Paul. Mark sees stacking anomalies better than anyone else I know, so I’ll let him speak to that. Personally, I like the background as presented. Very nicely done. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Fach](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/bill_fach/32/78290_2.png) [@Bill\_Fach](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Bill_Fach)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 3:43am UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/backlit-buttercup/50286/4 "2026-04-02T03:43:43Z")
Paul: I’m in a particularly lazy mood tonight so I’ll just ditto @Dennis_Plank regarding the backlighting and BG. Nicely done. \>=))\>