Flower photography (first post)

[Arcturus]

I've just been lurking here for a few days, and this is my first post on these forums and one of my first photos (using a low-end p&s). Tell me what you think. I have applied an unsharp mask, adjusted curves and contrast and upped the saturation around 10 in PS. Also this is cropped, so if you want the original i'll post it. How could this be better, both in composition and post-processing? I like this photo but the white flower poking through the corner in the lower left bothers me, i'm not too sure how to crop it without losing the main focal point.

[Arcturus]

Here is the original, i thought i might as well show it You guys will no doubt have better ideas on cropping and post-processing.

[frannymac]

hello - welcome - it is great to see another aussie on the site! Ireally like the perspective you have on the flower and I think your post processing has improved it - there is not much else I would suggest - but I am not highly versed in PS.

I didn't even notice the flower on the bottom left until you mentioned it, but if it is distracting to you maybe you could try to clone it out?

This flower is so beautiful - could you try to isolate it and not have anything else in the frame? just a thought. I love this sort of imagery and look forward to see some more of your shots.

Fran

[Arcturus]

Thanks for the kind words and warm welcome frannymac. I don't know if i'm skilled enough with PS to clone out the flower, but i guess if it's not that obvious i won't worry about it, it's my first real photo afterall (i'm just a perfectionist) I took a few other shots of this flower (more in isolation), but i didn't really know what to do with these. I found the first one i posted created a better composition, but if you have any ideas with these i'd love to hear them.

They're all original so no post-processing or cropping has been done.

[Bren]

Welcome, I am new as well, so not sure how much critiquing I can do. I like what you did with the first one, it is much brighter then the original. I don’t really seem to notice the flower at the bottom that much. I think you did a great job with it.

I like the others you posted as well, the third one I like the best looking over the first flower onto the other flowers.

Can't wait to see more posts

[Tuna]

Your original photo looks very nice and the corrections you did paid off. As for cloning, it isn't too difficult after some practice. Do some research on cloning techniques on the internet. Then practice with different size and softness and opacity of brushes. Soon, you should be able to clone the dark green in the bottom right of your image to the bottom left without too much problem.

Then again, I'm not sure it is absolutely necessary as it is part of the "background" as is the white petal on the right of the same flower.

Tuna

[Arcturus]

Thanks Bren and Tuna. I might play with cloning but as you suggested it's probably all part of the background anyway and not really distracting. I guess i'm just looking for problems By the way, frannymac you mentioned isolating one of the flowers. As you might have noticed with the other originals i attached, the flowers are very simple and untextured. To me it might not make a great composition as there would be too much white space everywhere, unlike the rose in your avatar. Of course if you can suggest a way of doing it i'd love to hear it

[Lava Lamp]

Thanks for the kind words and warm welcome frannymac. I don't know if i'm skilled enough with PS to clone out the flower, but i guess if it's not that obvious i won't worry about it, it's my first real photo afterall (i'm just a perfectionist) I took a few other shots of this flower (more in isolation), but i didn't really know what to do with these. I found the first one i posted created a better composition, but if you have any ideas with these i'd love to hear them.

They're all original so no post-processing or cropping has been done.

Welcome. I probably like the first photo in this second batch the best. When I read your title about flowers and a first-time poster, I thought they migh be very straight-forward documentary shots, but you've gotten some good and interesting angles. Keep it up and show us more.

[frannymac]

Hi again,

Like LL, the first photo in the second lot is my favourite and I think you have captured it beautifully. My style of macro photography will often mean I capture only a small part of a flower - focusing on the detail and texture. These flowers are particularly difficult to capture given their shape and colouring but I think you have done a great job. Can you change the aperture on your camera? if so - can you increase the depth of field which may bring into focus the detail/texture in the petal....
Can you try the perspective of the second shot in your second post with a wider field of view? often these sorts of shots also lend themselves to a different crop - ie panoramic or square - I will often experiment with this. Just some thoughts - but you need to know that your images really great.

Fran

[Arcturus]

Thanks again everyone. Actually the camera i'm using is a simple p&s borrowed from my sister. I'm waiting for mine to arrive so i've been playing around with hers. As such, it doesn't have any manual aperture or shutter settings (which mine will have). I'm sure it'll also take me some time to work on technique once i get my camera. I didn't get a wider shot of the one you're talking about, the only one that comes slightly close is the one in this post. Thanks again for your help, i'll try and muck around with aperture settings when i get my new camera.

[villenadecorte]

Hi and Welcome
For the first one, I dont think the flower in th BG is distracting, however applying a blur to it might be effective. I think the saturation you added gave it a nice punch.
I enjoyed looking at these. I think the second set of shots you posted are fantastic.
Keep it up!
Can't wait to see more.
VillenaDeCorte