Micro Bee

[Jhoot33]

Hi all.

I've been trying to take the constructive feedback I've been getting, and also the feedback I read in other thread, and put it to use. Here are three more "garden pics." I was happy to see I got a shot of a very small bee. This week I have vacation so maybe I can finally get some good shots outside of my yard.

Take care,

Jason

[drg]

I am going to guess that you are depending on a programmed exposure setting? As a result the photos are generally underexposed (too dark) by probably 1EV.

The tiger lily image is in need of a some sharpening if it is in focus. The water drops currently are making me wonder? Almost as if the camera was focused and move slightly (as in handheld) after the focus was locked/set.

Part of what may be going on here is the need to adjust them for web display. Are you doing any post processing in adjusting for levels, white balance, contrast, or other adjustments? Would you like an example of what I am talking about?

Sometimes a big piece of white construction paper is your best friend to reflect more light inside the flower.

Nice subjects, now all we have to do is tweak your techniques.

Insects are always fun to discover you have captured. Welcome to PR and hope to see more this week. Hope this is a good start and ask lots of questions if you can't find the answers in other postings.

I haven't seen any of your other posts, but will work on that this pm.

[payn817]

Agreed. Another thing to watch will be how the light is falling. It took me FOREVER and I still have problems there. There's some harsh lighting here, which can be solved by the time of day. The light is causing some shadow areas, which are hurting these shots. One way to help with the problem of underexposure or blowouts is to spot meter on the flower, lock, recompose, and then shoot. This will properly expose the flower, and help (usually) keep the BG dim enough to isolate the flower more.

Keep workin on it, and you'll get where you wanna be. Hope to see more from you soon.

[Jhoot33]

I'm still trying to figure out this camera. (Powershot A620) I have a lot to learn, I know. And your comments help. I do some post work on the shots. On these two I darkened the image and then increased the contrast. The originals seems sort of "washed out"

[payn817]

We all got a lot to learn.

Keep it up.

[GB1]

Jason - Welcome to the PR boards.

I think that they're pretty good shots in most respects. I like the way you blurred the backgrounds with a shallow DOF. They are also for the most part sharp (the middle one is a tad soft) and the colors are nice.

Like others have mentioned, they might be a little unexposed, but the real problem I have is the extremely lighting conditions. The shadows make them too harsh. You might want to shoot on a more overcast day or at early or late day. But if you can swing it, try using a reflector to fill in a little light to reduce the contrast... This might be the best way to eliminate the shadows (you could also try a fill flash with a defuser over the flash head).

The bee is a nice touch. Can you get in closer yet? - might take a macro lens for that.

Thanks for posting.
GB