macro flowers

[brewmaster15]

100mm macro F3.5 " Phoenix" Macro ... Very economical 100 mm macro , super lightweight. A basic generic macro lens that can really make some nice pictures.

IMGP0083a1


50 mm Pentax FA 2.8 AF lens.. an older lens from the film days, but one of my favorites... built like a tank...

IMGP0094al


The flower is an african violet, dwarf even for them! But very unique colors.

al




ps.. Ricardo, did you get the notice... It should be working now,

[Discus-n00b]

Cool Al, like the colors and the purple speckling. I wish the lighting had been hitting the flower head on.

[brewmaster15]

Cool Al, like the colors and the purple speckling. I wish the lighting had been hitting the flower head on.

Thanks Matt,

Unfortunately the window sill where its on limited me there!..

Theres actually a neat aspect to these flower petals that have a translucent look.. almost like clear plant cells, or water cells.. The backlighting shows these.

al

[Second Hand Pat]

Al, african violets are a favorite of mine. Is this one variegated?
Pat

[rickztahone]

Love the bokeh of that 100mm. Great color rendering as well. Much pp on these?

[brewmaster15]

Love the bokeh of that 100mm. Great color rendering as well. Much pp on these?

Not much at all Ricardo, very little sharpening needed.

[brewmaster15]

Al, african violets are a favorite of mine. Is this one variegated?
Pat

Just the flowers Pat.

[brewmaster15]

Okay Matt, Ask and you shall recieve..(at least this time) The suns moved and created a nice sun patch on the couch...so I can change the lighting direction now..


100 mm Phoenix macro... (EXIF data says 400mm... its not! I have to set that on a manual lens and didn't)

IMGP0453a1

IMGP0452a1

IMGP0456a1


50 mm Pentax Macro

IMGP0475a1

IMGP0472a1

IMGP0461a1

[Ardan]

Very cool!

Ardan

[Second Hand Pat]

Really shows that flower nicely. I took some easter lily shots today and was curious as to the f-stop used Al.
Pat

[brewmaster15]

Pat my flickr account is public..you should be able to see all the Data there. I try and stop down the aperture as much as I can with macros because you really need as much depth of field as you can get..but sometimes wide open works as well.

[Second Hand Pat]

I already checked Al

[rickztahone]

Pat, generally you want to stop down to f/8 or smaller

[SMB2]

Nice Al.
Great use of DOF to control the background, especially in the last one. The first two are a little bright and contrasty, maybe a diffuser would have softened the light.
The lighting is much better in the second group.
So at the risk of being a little picky..... In the second group, the first three have a distracting flower on the L and stem on the R. Those bright areas draw your eye away from the subject flower. I like an out of focus flower, (shadow subject or "echo) in the background as long as it is not brighter than the subject. The second three are better. Watch that you don't clip the pedals, or if you mean to, maybe a little more symmetrically. You can do that with a slight crop as well. That is why to my eye the last one works the best.
I was taught that when shooting flowers, first find a nice specimen, look for contrasting colors, then study the background, moving the camera and adjusting the f stop to get the most pleasing uncluttered background. I know several pros who carry black and sky blue velvet cloth with them to use if all else fails! And work the flower, trying lots of settings and compositions, just like you did with this group. So many people just take one or two shots and move on. Maybe that is one good thing about a tripod. It anchors you in one place and lets you make minor adjustments.

I saw your post this morning and it spurred me into getting out the camera and go hunt for some spring flowers. I will post some shots here (no highjack intended and you can move them if you like). Maybe we can turn this into a flower show and tell.
The shots were not with a macro lens. I used a 70-200 2.8 lens at 200mm with 25mm extension tube (+/-) a Canon 500D filter diopter for magnification. All on a tripod. It was a bit breezy so some are not as sharp as they could be and the day was overcast (a god thing!) and I used a gold reflector on some to add a bit of warm light.

20150415_Meadowlark Garden_134050_5546.jpg

20150415_Meadowlark Garden_140625_5660.jpg

20150415_Meadowlark Garden_152300_5968.jpg

20150415_Meadowlark Garden_163814_6246.jpg

20150415_Meadowlark Garden_164345_6285.jpg

[Discus-n00b]

Excellent, love the colors even more now Al! Though seeing the small cells is pretty cool.

Nice ones Stan!