I was actually good and wrote down my aperture and shutter speed and the name of the flower if I could figure out which label went with which flower :)

All of these were taken with my Minolta Maxxum 7000 and a Minolta 50mm 1.7 lense. In some of them I did use a close up filter. The film was just 200 speed store brand.

Just curious, what's the general opinion of close up filters? I know I've heard that you lose a lot of picture quality with them.

1. White Iris, taken 4.5/250
2. White Iris, 4.5/500, #4 close up filter
3. I think this was labeled as a type of Nightshade, 4.5/125, #4 close up filter
4 Gooseneck Longstrife, 4.5/125, #4 filter.

All comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I was actually good and wrote down my aperture and shutter speed and the name of the flower if I could figure out which label went with which flower :)

All of these were taken with my Minolta Maxxum 7000 and a Minolta 50mm 1.7 lense. In some of them I did use a close up filter. The film was just 200 speed store brand.

Just curious, what's the general opinion of close up filters? I know I've heard that you lose a lot of picture quality with them.

1. White Iris, taken 4.5/250
2. White Iris, 4.5/500, #4 close up filter
3. I think this was labeled as a type of Nightshade, 4.5/125, #4 close up filter
4 Gooseneck Longstrife, 4.5/125, #4 filter.

All comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Very nice shots. Do you see how 1 stop less exposure held the details in the iris better in the second shot?
I really like the shape of the spike in the last shot.

I really like this type of photos and like to play with them myself. You have done well here.

Image 1 - nice composition - lacks sharpness

Image 2 - more detail than image 1 - crop a little too close for my liking and the composition does not seem balanced.

Image 3 - My pick of the bunch - I like the detail and DOF - copsosition works well

Image 4 - agree with Chunk on the great shape of the shape of the Gooseneck Longstrife - I feel the DOF has to take in more of the spike to be as effective as it could be. I really like the contrasting colours in the background in this image.

No comment on the close up filters as I have not used them. I do notice that these images are a little grainy, maybe this is the cause??

Not easy to get every thing going right at the same time I know. Keep on shooting and thanks for sharing. :) :)

No comment on the close up filters as I have not used them. I do notice that these images are a little grainy, maybe this is the cause??


I don't know about a closeup filter causing graininess - I don't think so. One problem with the cheap closeup filters I've used is tht they have a curved plane of focus. (I know that's on oxymoron but it's the easiest way to get the idea across.) This makes it difficult to get as much in focus in your shot unless things are arranged as if you are looking into a shallow bowl. You can use this 'feature' to isolate a subject from others at the same distance from the camera. They also have a pretty shallow dof, I think.

If one is into taking this kind of close up shots a macro lens or extension tubes can make things easier than the closeup filters. A zoom-tele with macro can do well on moderate closups like these.

Thanks guys for your input :)

For the exposures, I lost detail in the one because it overexposed slightly and burned out a bit?

Wish I would of bracketted, but we only had a few extra rolls of film with us so I wanted to conserve film.

With the longstrife, I focused on the bulge of the curve, wanting that to emphasize the shape that way. My first thought looking at it was that it would have been better if the entire spike of flowers in focus, but I keep looking at it and wonder then if it would grab as much interest in the shape if the emphasis wasn't on the bulge of the curve.

Thanks guys for your input :)

For the exposures, I lost detail in the one because it overexposed slightly and burned out a bit?

Wish I would of bracketted, but we only had a few extra rolls of film with us so I wanted to conserve film.

With the longstrife, I focused on the bulge of the curve, wanting that to emphasize the shape that way. My first thought looking at it was that it would have been better if the entire spike of flowers in focus, but I keep looking at it and wonder then if it would grab as much interest in the shape if the emphasis wasn't on the bulge of the curve.

Hello CaraRose,

These are pleasing shots. My favorite one is the longstrife precisely because of the way you focused on the the curve and the effect that it provides. This is a great shot as far as I am concerned.

regards

Seb