Flowers.. C&C Plz

Xbethx · Sep 29, 2014

Had the hardest time getting the focus right on these and still feel like they're a little soft.
Spent about an hour in this spot and took close to 100 photos and these were the only 3 that looked decent.
Was shooting with Canon 75-300 lens without a tripod (im guessing that would be the reason for the focus issues?) Although i was resting the camera on a fence most of the time..

#1
f/5.6
1/1250 sec
ISO-400
300 mm

#2
f/5
1/640 sec
ISO-400
205 mm

#3
f/6.3
1/1250 sec
ISO-400
75 mm
This one has not been cropped. Was considering cropping out some of the out of focus part on the left..

Any tips for focusing on these types of shots or anything else i couldve done differently would be greatly appreciated

WesternGuy · Sep 29, 2014

These are not too bad, considering that you did not use a tripod. I won't labour the point, but a good tripod and a remote shutter release are two of the accessories that I find most useful in my flower photography.

#1. The background is a bit distracting, even though it is out of focus. I would have removed the dead flowers and concentrated on having the two main flowers in focus. I carry around a small pair of scissors that I can use to "garden" with and remove things such as the dead flowers. You might also want to try a different angle to reduce the distractions in the background. I would also clone out the little bit of the flower on the right near the top of the image.

#2. I think you are trying to show too many flowers in this shot, or is it the bee. If it is the bee, then I would have tried getting a little closer, particularly since you are using a 75-300 lens.

#3. I think I would have tried a larger f-stop here, maybe f/11 or f/13 to try and have all my flowers in focus. Having those in front and those on the left out of focus, detracts from the image.

One thing that you might want to ask yourself when shooting flowers is - "What is it that I want to show in this image?" - and then use the image with its appropriate "settings" to answer the question.

If you haven't seen it, you might want to look at Steve Berardi's book on Flower Photography - Free eBook on Wildflower Photography - PhotoNaturalist - it's free. Also have a look at some of the postings by Harold Davis, Kathleen Clemons and Denise Ippolito. I find that looking at other flower photographer's galleries give me some good ideas on what to do for my own flower images.

Hope this helps.

WesternGuy