Tiptoe through the Tulips...

I got a chance to sneek outside today and experiment with some close-ups of my wife's tulips in the backyard. This was my favorite...but I'd appreciate any feedback on how to improve these kinds of shots.

Shot is full-frame, only PS work was an unsharp mask and "Save for Web". Canon Digital Rebel (300D), 18-55mm at 55 mm with stacked Bower magnifying "filters" to +7, f16, 1/125 at ISO 200.

Nice try. Macros aren't the easiest to take. Try using a diffuser (see discussion down below) to soften the light (or repeat on an overcast day). This will eliminate the harshness and get rid of the distracting shadow. Then try to avoid "bullseyeing" (is that a word?) the subject. By offsetting the subject, the image is generally more visually pleasing. Finally, macros require more control over the point of focus. If not already done, switch to manual focus (with maybe a higher depth of field) and sharpen up more of the petals. Ideally, the whole thing could be in better focus.

Now having suggested all that, rules are made to be broken. So, for example, if you meant to have things out of focus, do it all the way. Open up the aperture and "let her fly".It's probably best, though, to have a little more of the subject in focus rather than just the tip of the stamen.

So, let's see your next shot!

Regards, Ken

There's an old saying that goes, roses on your piano are nice, but tulips on your organ are even better.

Thjat's just wrong in so many ways! LOL

Mr. Caudle impresses us again with his insightful wisdom.

RichieV

Hey, let's keep it PG-13 around here.

Your shot is pretty nice, James, and has a lot more potential. I think Ken's suggestions are excellent, especially with regards to the shadows. I'm not sure what your intent was with focus/depth of field, but this appears as though only the stigma (? - the forward-most yellow structure) is sharp. Since there's very little detail in that part of the flower, the sharpness is hard to pick up and it looks as though nothing is in focus. Nothing right or wrong here, just a matter of preference. You could try a slightly smaller aperature to get the brown anthers in focus, or an even smaller one to get everything including the petals in focus.

I never noticed before that the interior parts of the petals are colored in such a wayas to mimic the star shape of the reproductive parts. Very cool!

Brings up a point I always wrestle with on shots like this... I usually crank the aperture down as far as possible and try to pick a "hyperfocal" point somewhere, but the DOF always seems woefully narrow - probably because of lens length, in my case. For you Nikonians out there... what do you use for macros like this? Perhaps I need to move away from my 105 Micro-Nikkor (even though it's a sharp little booger) and broaden my horizons (and open my wallet again).

Thanks for the feedback! I've just started trying macros and appreciate the tips!

Rick's correct - the part in focus, of which I referred, was the stigma. Guess I need a refresher in "the birds and the bees"! See diagram above from tiscali.reference. http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0007007.html

Ken

James as others have pointed out macro subjects are very difficult due to DOF issues. I think that a difuser would have helped even out the light. An off center composition would be slightly more interesting as well as a not looking directly down on the flower parts, but looking towards them from the side. All of these are definitely personal taste. For me an image is successful if people notice something they have not noticed before and from the postings you got people discussing flower parts and some biology. Over all the image does look good and is a very good first attempt at macro. Keep on trying and posting and thanks for sharing.

I'm going to go a little against the grain and say that I like the shadows - they're a nice repetitive element in this photo. The main thing I would do is crop out the dark area in the URC. I find focus in macros highly subjective as far as whether people like or don't like.Typically it's all (in focus) or one little detail. This photo is in between. I think an interesting shot would be to have the tips of anthers and stigma tack sharp and everthing else soft, looking straight down on it as you did here (shadows wouldn't be good in that situation).

Thanks, Chuck. The shadows were interesting to me, as well - I like how the shadows were cast in the "between" spaces. I have a few other shots with more diffused light that are nice, but all suffer from the same DOF issues...but I have a nice list of variables to experiment with next time!