Your thoughts please

Ok so I have been having a go at taking photographs of other things lately, thanks to the "Plant Life" Project over on Almo's forum, and decided to put a few in here to see what you think.

All taken using my 50mm 1.8 lens.

I've never done this sort of photography before. How am I doing?

And the last one...

rose---flawless---love the peas...both very fresh useable images for print ads or such...nice work---beautiful even light in both

The first rose and the peas are wonderful Alison. I like the purple flowers in the garden view but think in this case a greater DOF would have preferable so we can see the rest of the garden in detail. The rest seem to be less direct about the subject. It's nice to get a peek outside of your "studio". :D Good work.

Yes, the rose and peas are excellent. The rose because of the off-set and detail in the whites. The peas because of the lighting and pleasing DOF.

One issue with the peas: that second stalk (on the left) competes for attention because it is more or less within the DOF. I would have turned that one around so that the stalk pointed away. When working with shallow DOF, always try to put the part of the subject of main emphasis within it. Imagine if the 2nd or 3rd pea in the pod was a slightly different color than the rest.

The first and third images in the series are a bit too wide for me. Pretty but lacks that central focus point for the viewer.

You are learning fast! Keep shooting and posting. I can relate to these (I find "studio" shots of people to be very difficult for me :p )

Some good DOF experiments.

I like the white flower a lot -- this shot would also be great material for some sort of coliage or invitation.

The last shot is pretty neat but I think all or most of the pod needs to be in focus, not just the front part. If that's all that is in focus however, you should differentiate it from the rest more, like add a drops of water to the focused area, etc. Or, try moving it so it's partially horizontal so that you can make it sharp and still have the other pods blurry.

The blue flowers are nice. Some sort of subject on the right would add to it too.

GB

Peas: Really nice in composition, exposure, and lighting

White rose: Nice composition and detail. I'd like to see it a bit brighter.

Garden: Nice exposure and color but needs a stronger center of interest or more DOF to demonstrate that all of the elements are united. In other words if all were in focus, I would consider it a landscape shot instead of trying to make the left focused corner the attention getter.

Tree: Nice color and exposure but lacking center of interest plus a bit busy.

Behind the flower: I've seen this angle on PR a few times and it hasn't caught on to me in most cases. The blurred bud on the left probably should moved out of the way and there is decay on the top left petal.

I've just started to take this type of photgraphy seriously so I'm learning with you. Hope my opinions to you are sound.

Thanks for sharing.

Quote:

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Imagine if the 2nd or 3rd pea in the pod was a slightly different color than the rest.

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oooooh, you know what, that would be COOL!!!

Allison - the rose and peas, like were all saying ;). I kind of agree with loupey on the DOF, but I would have a hard time critiquing like so simply because I dont know how you would change that in this given composition.

Wow! Thank you ALL so much.
Great advice!
I'll see about re-shooting that garden :)
Watch this space.

Alison, the peas are my fav. You should try marketing it to ag mags, or perhaps a seed company, if that's your thing. :)