Macro - Finding the sweet spot

[SMB2]

Are these with a tripod? How many images did you take of the last one?

Using LR5 I took a brush and "painted" in a darker background and the added a slight vignette. This helps pop out the flower.
BTW if you don't want me to play with your images just say so, I don't want to offend. But Sometimes the picture is easier than typing!




20150505_untitled_232827_.jpg

[Second Hand Pat]

I did not use a tripod and of the last one I only have one picture at a different angle. Here it is

DSC_8865 .

You really made those flowers pop and since I am in the learning process I did not mind you illustrating your point. LR5 is Light Room?

[Second Hand Pat]

Here's one other.

DSC_8851

[rickztahone]

Like all 3 Pat. Good job. I prefer the closer cropped one, but they are both good.

[rickztahone]

Yes Pat, LR5 is Light Room 5. Pretty sweet piece of program for a really cheap price. You can find discounted ones all over. Use a previous version and save even more.

I like the last one you posted as well. Compositionally works well.

[Second Hand Pat]

Thanks Ricardo, on LR5 I'm seeing about $146 on Amazon. Sounds like LR6 is a bit buggy.
Pat

[SMB2]

Pat, I am not a post processing guru but have spent some time with LR.
LR6 came out as an upgrade to 5.7 about two weeks ago. The issues have been taking 5.7 to 6 online. Downloading LR6 from scratch seems OK.
But here is the rub: in about a year or certainly by LR7, Adobe will only update it's Plan (monthly subscription) members, ie LR CC. Updates include new camera info. So if you don't have the "plan" and three years from now you get a new camera you won't have support for that camera in LR. Plus you would miss out on any new features added to LR.
So not a big deal at the moment and you can certainly purchase a stand alone version of LR, but I would learn about LR CC (Creative Cloud) as it will be necessary in the future.

There are lots of great on line video learning classes where you can go at your own speed. http://kelbyone.com/ http://www.steeletraining.com/index.htm http://www.underwaterlightroom.com/ http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/lightroom-training-videos
Are a few. Looks daunting but again you can go at your own pace. (Watch one during each water change.)

I think the most over looked issue for people getting started is setting up a reasonable library of your images. LR helps with that (somewhat challenging to master but OK once you get it). There are certainly other programs and many on this site that can help you. The key is to start organizing early on so you can always find your images (and not keep them in a digital shoe box). The processing of the images is the fun part but having a good library with adequate storage and backup very often gets little attention.

[rickztahone]

Pat, I am not a post processing guru but have spent some time with LR.
LR6 came out as an upgrade to 5.7 about two weeks ago. The issues have been taking 5.7 to 6 online. Downloading LR6 from scratch seems OK.
But here is the rub: in about a year or certainly by LR7, Adobe will only update it's Plan (monthly subscription) members, ie LR CC. Updates include new camera info. So if you don't have the "plan" and three years from now you get a new camera you won't have support for that camera in LR. Plus you would miss out on any new features added to LR.
So not a big deal at the moment and you can certainly purchase a stand alone version of LR, but I would learn about LR CC (Creative Cloud) as it will be necessary in the future.

There are lots of great on line video learning classes where you can go at your own speed. http://kelbyone.com/ http://www.steeletraining.com/index.htm http://www.underwaterlightroom.com/ http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/lightroom-training-videos
Are a few. Looks daunting but again you can go at your own pace. (Watch one during each water change.)

I think the most over looked issue for people getting started is setting up a reasonable library of your images. LR helps with that (somewhat challenging to master but OK once you get it). There are certainly other programs and many on this site that can help you. The key is to start organizing early on so you can always find your images (and not keep them in a digital shoe box). The processing of the images is the fun part but having a good library with adequate storage and backup very often gets little attention.

Very well said Stan.

Pat, an alternative to the price you gave for LR5 is to purchase a LR3 full version (I saw one on ebay for $30) and then simply buy the upgrade version which will run you about $60-80. That puts you at a lot less upfront cost for the program. It is a matter of finding the good deal, and as we all know, buying from ebay can sometimes be iffy. Either way, LR and a lot of stand alone programs such as this will definitely improve the editing you are able to apply to your shots. I think it is a good upgrade path for you considering how much shooting you have been doing lately.

A word of advice to you, if you have multiple shots that look "almost" identical, choose one of the few you have and roll with that one. You will soon realize that as you keep shooting, you will be a lot more selective with your shots, but those early shots you will keep shots that are almost identical just taking up space in your library.

[Second Hand Pat]

Guys, what do you think about Gimp? I found a way to get the Nikon raw files into a format Gimp understands.
Pat

[dagray]

I have seen finished work where the photographer used Gimp as their editing software and was blown away. Like any other software there will be a learning curve, but as freeware goes Gimp is pretty nice.

Topaz Labs has a suite that can run stand alone or as plugins to Photoshop (I have used it both ways, but use it as a plugin to Photoshop more), but it is about $350.00.

Adobe Creative Cloud with Photoshop 6 runs me $20.00 per month.

I am enjoying seeing you play with the macro.

[rickztahone]

Guys, what do you think about Gimp? I found a way to get the Nikon raw files into a format Gimp understands.
Pat

You can do a large majority of the stuff you can do with PS on GIMP. It is the pros who benefit from upgrading to PS many times because the tools are a little more integrated and easier to work with, but GIMP has some of the same tools, just a little more getting use to for fluidity. Their URAW converter was very handy for me before getting PS and I did most of my edits on it. Seeing as GIMP is freeware, it is a bit of a no brainer to at least not put it through its paces

[Second Hand Pat]

You can do a large majority of the stuff you can do with PS on GIMP. It is the pros who benefit from upgrading to PS many times because the tools are a little more integrated and easier to work with, but GIMP has some of the same tools, just a little more getting use to for fluidity. Their URAW converter was very handy for me before getting PS and I did most of my edits on it. Seeing as GIMP is freeware, it is a bit of a no brainer to at least not put it through its paces

Good to know Ricardo and it seems like a great place to start since I am at the beginning of this photo journey. I did find and download UFRaw. It convert the Nikon NEF files into something Gimp can read.

I took Stan's advice and while not quite the backside....
DSC_8938

The foreground is just way to distracting on this one. Another crop might help.
DSC_8923

Native Florida grass. Very hard to photography....perhaps not worth it.
DSC_8916

If you look close there are tiny orange flowers.
DSC_8912

[rickztahone]

Are you kidding? That third one is one fantastic shot! Love delicate shots like that. Oh, and yeah, I forgot the conversion is called UFRaw and not URAW, lol. Thanks for the reminder.

[SMB2]

I like the grass! Sometimes the image sets up better if you tilt the camera (or crop) to have the stalk more on a diagonal. Some would say starting near the left corner as we tend to "read" l>R.
The last one has a little more tilt and could perhaps use some more. I, again, like the "ghost" grass images for background.

What ever you process in please keep an organized library and be sure you can seamlessly move to LR or PS etc. in the future. Understand that if you process in Gimp things like keywords or some changes may not get passed on to a LR.
I used Aperture (Apple) from 2007 to 2014 and had almost 7TB of images. Well Apple pulled the plug on Aperture and it's new editing program is so far, not for advanced work. It was not an easy task to move Aperture images to LR5, much of my editing work was not transferable. Took some time to get everything the way I wanted, but I still keep Aperture available for safety sake.

Last week I took over 7000 images in Florida on a birding trip. I have already deleted half of them. More will go as the weeks pass. But I can't stress enough the need for organizing folders in a way that you can quickly get to images.

Meanwhile keep shooting!

[Second Hand Pat]

Thanks guys, I really like the grass shots too and love the ghost grass in the third shot. The grass is lite, airy and full of interesting little detail. Thanks for the tilt suggestion Stan. I forget about that.

In the meantime most of my "library" consist of jpegs as I only recently started to keep the raw version of the photos. So what strategies do you guys employ to organize your images?...subject matter, date, meaningful folder titles etc. I can see keeping three versions of an image; original raw, edited raw and final jpeg. Oh yet, one time about the UFraw conversion, the original raw is 22MB and converted raw was 47MB.