Critique of a simple shot - some flowers I got for Valentine's Day

[graecyn]

So in my attempt to get used to using my new D7000 (kit lens right now, ugh) - here are a couple of shots I took yesterday of some flowers I got for Vday. Critique welcome. Thanks!

If you can't see the photos below, here they are on 500px:
500px / Photo "Valentine's Day Flowers" by Graecyn K
500px / Photo "Valentine's Day Flowers" by Graecyn K

 

[jowensphoto]

Pretty flowers

Hmmm... honestly, the photos seem uninspired. Normally, the eye is pulled to the brightest part of a photo; in the first, I'm automatically drawn to (and distracted by) the shadows on the right hand side.

What made you decide to sit these flowers on the ground outside? It feels more funeral-y than Valentine's.

Experiment with some different angles. Straight on is how flowers are seen every day. Even straight down from the top would be more interesting.

Congrats on your camera

 

[Joey_Ricard]

start by taking them off of the ground and put them in your warmly lit kitchen near the window.

As Jess mentioned, they look like funeral flowers

 

[jowensphoto]

YAY! My name got remembered. Thank you, sir Joey

 

[Joey_Ricard]

I remember you and your flickr. I remember you as the girl that was smoking a cig at Bears Den with b/f, funny how we associate people with an image of them or one they took.

 

[jowensphoto]

Hahaha. Too funny. And definitely not my boyfriend! That was my cousin.

Boyfriend was in the infamous gun pic, though.

What part of WV are you in? Ever been to Bear's Den?

 

[kassad]

In addition to what has been said already, I would suggest trying to change your position to the sun. Try with the sun behind you, perhaps backlight the flowers with the sun then fill flash the flower with a strobe or even the pop-up flash.

 

[graecyn]

To be honest I'd put them in a warmly lit kitchen near a window - if I had a warmly lit kitchen with a window. I live in a pretty small apartment and my kitchen has no windows (my entire apartment, in fact, only has 3 windows in it lol). So that's not really an option.

 

[Joey_Ricard]

To be honest I'd put them in a warmly lit kitchen near a window - if I had a warmly lit kitchen with a window. I live in a pretty small apartment and my kitchen has no windows (my entire apartment, in fact, only has 3 windows in it lol). So that's not really an option.

lol ok touche, but I am sure you know what I mean. Find a nice warmly lit spot with a nice background. Make it interesting, not just a sit it there and shoot a pic thing. Be creative.... I know you can come up with something.

 

[rexbobcat]

I think anywhere besides the grass would work. With them on the ground, vegetation against vegetation just doesn't offer enough contrast to make the red of the flowers really POP.

 

[Vtec44]

It could be the kitchen window, table, snow, wooden fence, car hood, glass vase, etc....

 

[mishele]

Those flowers are beautiful, such a lucky girl!
Now I got that out of the way.
Were you just trying to document the flowers?
Were you trying to convey any type of emotion?
What was your intent for the shot?

 

[graecyn]

I think anywhere besides the grass would work. With them on the ground, vegetation against vegetation just doesn't offer enough contrast to make the red of the flowers really POP.

Ahh. Okay good point. Thank you guys.

 

[Joel_W]

As soon as I saw the 1st picture, I honestly thought that you used them to mark a place where some one was killed, as they do that a lot around here. Car accidents are the #1 reason. So you can see why I jumped to the wrong conclusion. You may not have a kitchen window, but you do have 3 other windows. The flowers have strong vibrant colors, so diffused lighting would be the way I would go.

 

[sm4him]

Since you have a small apartment and limited window access, something else you may want to consider, since I assume these flowers will not represent your ONLY challenge in learning to use that D7000.
If you already HAVE a separate flash unit, great, learn to use it. But I'm assuming, since you just have the kit lens, that you also don't have a flash.

While I DO have a lot of windows in my house, I also have a lot of clutter. And by a lot, I mean...well, never mind what I mean. A LOT of clutter.

Here's what I did, as a low-budget option to have a place to set up some practice shots. I bought one of those foamcore science-fair display boards, the tri-fold ones that will fold out and stand up on their own. I also bought some white poster board, and a cheap black sheet. Lay the white poster board on a table or other flat surface--preferably by one of the available windows, but if that's not possible, at least somewhere reasonably well lit. Set the tri-fold display up on top of the white poster board and you now have a cheap, small "portrait studio" with a white background. If the subject calls for it, you can simply drape the black sheet (after ironing it well) over the display board so that it covers both the display board and the poster board on the table.

While it definitely lacks 'pro' potential, I've found this to be a fairly effective, CHEAP way to shoot smaller objects without the distracting backgrounds, and it's especially useful when I am just trying to practice something...depth of field, or lighting options, for instance.