Floral Love

[Saravin]

One of my favourite subjects is photography of Flowers, here are some from my collection

 

[dakkon76]

Sorry, but the majority of these missed focus. 5 and 6 are the only ones that look like the focus is in the correct spot, the rest look very soft. As far as composition, the first is my favorite, although I think a crop where it were moved to the left would have looked much more composed. Have to be careful when working with such a shallow DOF, perhaps try closing your aperture a bit more?

I would also suggest these tips:
1. Use a tripod when you can, this will enable you to eliminate all camera shake - use the timer and let go
2. If no tripod, try continuous shooting - I found when hand-holding, that my first shot with the shutter press was the most blurry
3. Avoid shooting in any sort of breeze so you can use a slower shutter speed
4. Single-point AF - pick your auto focus point so you can focus exactly where you want (or use manual focus)
5. Take the same shot at multiple apertures - difficult to tell until you look at them on a screen which DOF will look the best in each setting
6. Don't be afraid to manipulate your environment - blow dust off the petals, etc. In #1, the green leaf that's broken through the petals detracts from the image

 

[Saravin]

Thanks for the tips Dakkon !!

 

[Hokie1985]

Agree that most are out of focus. #6 is the sharpest of the bunch so what you did there worked best.