I sure have lots of time to practice at the gardens since they have a ton of these plants. This time I was also looking for composition in this case one, two, three the flower being 1, 2 leaves, then three. I wish I had set my closest focus on the leave OOF to the right but then again maybe it should be removed.
Specific Feedback Requested
Anything on composition and light. This plant was in the shade.
Technical Details
R7 100 f/2.8 macro. Helicon Stack. I have been using Zerene and learned so much on DMAP method I looked into Helicon a little deeper. So, I picked DMAP in Helicon and set the adjustment at 25. Zerene was better showing the adjust because Helicon shows no masking. However, if a new adjustment is needed, it does not start all over again and does the adjustment with the new setting.
I like the greens of the BG and the central elements of the poinsettia and how they get those reds to pop. The OOF leaf at the lower right is a minor distraction. I find that those types of stacking errors are best handled by starting over and increasing the number of in-focus images so that all elements are sharp in the final image. Well done…Jim
Thanks, Jim. The way the R7 focus stacking works is that I need to start with the most forward part of the image first in focus and then press the shutter. I do not know how the R5 works. However, what you suggested is exactly what I am doing now because I sometimes can see when it is shooting that I did not go far enough. On a side note, I was out Sunday when it was kind of windy, but I did not see any ghosting from movement. So I do like doing focus stacking with the camera feature, although I do turn off making a stacked image and saving it to the card as a Jpeg.
Dean, I’m good with the way it is in this shot. To me everything doesn’t have to be in focus. Guess I’m used to lack of DOF in macro shots. Beautiful flower.
I like the detail in the center of the photo. Those are the actual flowers while the big red bits are bracts (modified leaves). I’d rather have the leading bract in focus, but it’s not too overwhelming at this point. The stack looks good, I don’t see any artifacts or weird errors. Colors look good, too. So as a stacking exercise, a success!
Thank you for the comments, Jim, Shirley, and Kristen. I purchased Zerene so I can see which works for the photo I am working on. I agree with Kris on having the front in focus, so I need to pay more attention on that in the future. I am going to start getting deeper into identify plants and flowers.
Hi Dean, I think the lighting is just right and the composition is well balanced.
I have said it already in one of your other Poinsettia posts that red is a difficult color and you did well IMHO.
I think the OOF leaf on the right should be OOF because in my opinion if it were in focus, it would draw the eye away from the intended focal point (I’m assuming the intended focal point is the green part in the center). That leaf would stand out more in my opinion because it’s larger and sort of in the FG.
Yeah, I leave a lot to be desired when it comes to naming parts of flowers like @Kris_Smith is
