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This is one of my wife's orchids and was among the first photos I took with
the 20D. Can any of you comment on it and give pointers for improvement. I
personally think that it's great, but I am a little prejudiced.

http://www.pbase.com/dondunlap/image/36344715

Don Dunlap

IMHO, it's a good image. It looks soft, but that may just be the Web image.
One suggestion I do have is to isolate the subject as much as possible,
eliminating brighter objects around the flower that compete for attention.
The two red flower petals on the right edge compete as does the white
background (somewhat). Shifting your camera and tripod may help.

Don Patrylow

"Don Dunlap" <> wrote in message
news:34679$41b19c74$452340c5$28733@allthenewsgroup s.com...
> This is one of my wife's orchids and was among the first photos I took
with
> the 20D. Can any of you comment on it and give pointers for improvement.
I
> personally think that it's great, but I am a little prejudiced.
>
> http://www.pbase.com/dondunlap/image/36344715
>
> Don Dunlap
>
>

Don Dunlap wrote:

> This is one of my wife's orchids and was among
> the first photos I took with the 20D. Can any of
> you comment on it and give pointers for improvement.

Pretty flower! Your wife must be proud of her garden.

Perhaps focus next time on the central petal, letting
focus fall backward from that point. (You may be
using matrix focus, so the shot will focus most of
the petals behind the center of attention.) The DOF
is probably very shallow for that 260mm FL to be
so selective at f8, so maybe use aperture priority
and select f4 or whatever wide open is for you,
and use a tripod of course.

Keep shooting! The next one, the "paradise tami,"
is much sharper.

I had mixed emotions when framing the shot as to whether to include the red
flower petals on the right. Someone told me that focusing on the main
object and having other objects included, but unfocused, would add to the
photo. I agree that the white at the right rear is distracting, and I
should have had a black or grey board or something in the background. It is
the screen of the shadehouse, by the way.

Thanks for the comments,
Don
"Donald Patrylow" <> wrote in message
newsZSdnardBanFTyzcRVn-...
> IMHO, it's a good image. It looks soft, but that may just be the Web
> image.
> One suggestion I do have is to isolate the subject as much as possible,
> eliminating brighter objects around the flower that compete for attention.
> The two red flower petals on the right edge compete as does the white
> background (somewhat). Shifting your camera and tripod may help.
>
> Don Patrylow
>
> "Don Dunlap" <> wrote in message
> news:34679$41b19c74$452340c5$28733@allthenewsgroup s.com...
>> This is one of my wife's orchids and was among the first photos I took
> with
>> the 20D. Can any of you comment on it and give pointers for improvement.
> I
>> personally think that it's great, but I am a little prejudiced.
>>
>> http://www.pbase.com/dondunlap/image/36344715
>>
>> Don Dunlap
>>
>>
>
>

"Larry Dobersen" <> wrote in message
news:yL-dnQcPp5CZRizcRVn-...
> Don Dunlap wrote:
>
>> This is one of my wife's orchids and was among
>> the first photos I took with the 20D. Can any of
>> you comment on it and give pointers for improvement.
>
> Pretty flower! Your wife must be proud of her garden.
>
> Perhaps focus next time on the central petal, letting
> focus fall backward from that point. (You may be
> using matrix focus, so the shot will focus most of
> the petals behind the center of attention.) The DOF
> is probably very shallow for that 260mm FL to be
> so selective at f8, so maybe use aperture priority
> and select f4 or whatever wide open is for you,
> and use a tripod of course.
>
> Keep shooting! The next one, the "paradise tami,"
> is much sharper.

Thanks for the comments I will try lowering the aperature for the next one.
My lens is an old 75-300 4-5.6 that I bought about 15 years ago. I can use
f5.6 at that zoom, which will be better than f8. The "Paradise Tami" is
nice, and I like this one:

http://www.pbase.com/dondunlap/image/36513354

Except for the background. It seems too light. It is actually the floor of
the shadehouse, so I made do with what was available.

Thanks,
Don

Don Dunlap wrote:
>
> I like this one:
>
> http://www.pbase.com/dondunlap/image/36513354
>
> Except for the background. It seems too light. It is actually the floor of
> the shadehouse, so I made do with what was available.

look at
http://www.vircen.com/rpd/
the original image, and one with more contrast.

>
> Thanks,
> Don

"Crownfield" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Don Dunlap wrote:
>>
>> I like this one:
>>
>> http://www.pbase.com/dondunlap/image/36513354
>>
>> Except for the background. It seems too light. It is actually the floor
>> of
>> the shadehouse, so I made do with what was available.
>
> look at
> http://www.vircen.com/rpd/
> the original image, and one with more contrast.
>
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Don

Much better. I think I'll redo mine and replace what is on pbase.

Thanks,
Don

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 10:03:47 -0800, Crownfield <>
wrote:

>Don Dunlap wrote:
>>
>> I like this one:
>>
>> http://www.pbase.com/dondunlap/image/36513354
>>
>> Except for the background. It seems too light. It is actually the floor of
>> the shadehouse, so I made do with what was available.
>
>look at
>http://www.vircen.com/rpd/
>the original image, and one with more contrast.

definitely better but seems more than just a contrast change.
>
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Don