This is my first non-studio macro flower picture that I’ve posted. I took it in my front yard during a break in the rain. To be honest, I’m not quite sure what I think about it and I thought it might be a good photo to get some feedback on.
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the image.
Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.
Technical: Feedback on the technical aspects of the image, such as exposure, color, focus and reproduction of colors and details, post-processing, and print quality.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I propped my camera on a bean bag and used off-camera flash. Still amazes me how dark flash can make a background look in daytime. Due to the nature of the setup, I couldn’t really do focus stacking. I chose to focus on the center part of the leaf but now I’m thinking I should have had the water drop as the focal point. Any tips or tricks welcome.
Technical Details
Sony A7RIV, Sony 90mm f/2.8 macro lens, 1/200 sec, f/14, ISO 100. Manual flash was set to 1/16 +3 power.
Oh what color. I’d be attracted to this as well. It reminds me a lot of my early work in the sense of the color and the kind of obvious flash. Are you using a diffusor? It doesn’t look like it, so I highly suggest using one for photos like these - a collapsable soft box directly on the flash will work. I have a silicone one that attaches magnetically to mine and so it squishes in my backpack. You could also use a handheld diffusor/reflector to soften that light even more. I often use one to block or diffuse sunlight in the forest. Make your own shade! Softer light will help bring out nuance in the texture that this sidelight is showing us. Off camera sidelight is the bomb for stuff like this, so good placement there.
A diffusor will also help with colors this intense. Reds and magentas are so hard to render well with a camera. I still struggle to get them right. We had some deep pink rhododendron in the yard that NEVER came out well. Ugh.
Secondly the crop is awkward for lack of a better word. I’m pretty sure you’re going for the whole flower, but it’s so tight I can’t be sure. Obviously those lovely unfurling petals wiht the water drop are another attraction, but the hotstpots are taking my attention away.
A lot of that is the stem. It’s big, bright and just makes me move my eyes there. If you hadn’t said this was a non-studio shot, I’d never have guessed with that dark background. For this kind of flower that makes sense because they’re so tightly bunched together. You could, alternately, use the flash as a fill in 2nd curtain mode with a longer shutter speed. This times the flash to fire at the end of your exposure and lets you get some of that ambient light. Then you could produce a softer look that might also be worth experimenting with.
Jeez, Kris, shut up already. I get a little carried away sometimes. Flash is so hard to learn, but I learning as I go as well and will do it again once the snow melts. Until then, keep posting your spring beauties so I can live vicariously through them!
Thank you for the feedback and advice @Kris_Smith. I have a plastic hood on top of the flash for a diffuser, but it doesn’t do much diffusion I will look into one that attaches to the head and spreads out more to make softer light. Agree about the crop, but it was hard for me to get in a good position. I will definitely be trying out the 2nd curtain shutter technique. I don’t like having such a dark background all the time.
With Flash, the shutter speed controls the amount of ambient light that will contribute to the exposure. You can use either first or second curtain sync and it will produce exactly the same image if the subject isn’t moving with any shutter speed. If the subject is moving and you want the ambient trailing “blur” to look normal (i.e. behind the moving object), then second curtain sync is the right choice.
I will look into one that attaches to the head and spreads out more to make softer light. Agree about the crop, but it was hard for me to get in a good position. I will definitely be trying out the 2nd curtain shutter technique. I don’t like having such a dark background all the time.