Noob. Please Critique?

[jpbessey]

I'm a beginning photographer, and had my first opportunity to attempt some macro photography this weekend. I'm relatively happy with the results, but would like some C&C to help me better myself. I was using a Nikon D80, with a Sigma 70-300 mm macro lens. I photographed everything in manual mode, and the camera settings were: ISO 800, Aperture F9, and shutter speed 1/1600, and automatic ISO. There was no post processing done on this picture at all. I did try the photo in black and white, but it didn't have anywhere near the same effect as color. One thing that i was a little unhappy with was the shallow depth of field of the lens (do all macro lenses have such a shallow depth of field?), and the monotonous background color, although i feel it does help contrast. Any comments, critiques, or suggestions would be very much appreciated.


Cheers,
John :cheers:

 

[480sparky]

My only issue is the composition... you have two subjects. I'm split between them.

As for DOF issues, try looking into focus stacking. The out-of-focus, plain background is a plus for this type of work.

 

[swiftparkour94]

I'm a beginning photographer, and had my first opportunity to attempt some macro photography this weekend. I'm relatively happy with the results, but would like some C&C to help me better myself. I was using a Nikon D80, with a Sigma 70-300 mm macro lens. I photographed everything in manual mode, and the camera settings were: ISO 800, Aperture F9, and shutter speed 1/1600, and automatic ISO. There was no post processing done on this picture at all. I did try the photo in black and white, but it didn't have anywhere near the same effect as color. One thing that i was a little unhappy with was the shallow depth of field of the lens (do all macro lenses have such a shallow depth of field?), and the monotonous background color, although i feel it does help contrast. Any comments, critiques, or suggestions would be very much appreciated.
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...ro-please-review-9-16-12-062-2-7-800x536-.jpg

Cheers,
John :cheers:

I disagree with sparky on the DOF, to me it looks perfectly fine (note that I'm viewing this on mobile) and a better composition could make it look interesting, but if you're going for a more simplistic feel to it then you did the job correctly, especially with the lighting so good job

 

[jpbessey]

a better composition could make it look interesting, but if you're going for a more simplistic feel to it then you did the job correctly

Thanks! In anyone's opinion, what would make a better composition?

 

[480sparky]

I disagree with sparky on the DOF, to me it looks perfectly fine (note that I'm viewing this on mobile) ......

Then you probably can't see the razor-thin DOF that makes most of the subjects blurry.

 

[swiftparkour94]

Then you probably can't see the razor-thin DOF that makes most of the subjects blurry.

Since when was F/9 razor thin?? F/1.8-2.8 are razor thin to me...

 

[480sparky]

Then you probably can't see the razor-thin DOF that makes most of the subjects blurry.

Since when was F/9 razor thin?? F/1.8-2.8 are razor thin to me...

F/9 alone means nothing. Total DOF is what you need to work towards. f/64 can still be less than a human hair.

F/9 may be plenty of DOF in a landscape, but when you start shooting very very close to the lens, the DOF gets very very thin.

 

[swiftparkour94]

Thanks! In anyone's opinion, what would make a better composition?[/QUOTE]

A simple tilt or shift of the subject can change the composition dramatically. I never had someone teach me much about composition, it's something I learned on my own through experimentation. I recommend looking at picture examples of unique compositions, then toy around when setting up macro shots. When you're in an environment where you cannot control the position of the subjects it's much more difficult to fit everything where you want it on the sensor so shots in a controlled environment such as this seem fairly easy. So really what I'm saying is, most of the time don't keep everything dead center, it'll most likely come out very plain and unordinary so shift it in a way to make it more interesting

 

[charlie76]

Hmmm...not sure about this one, bud. The focus seems....off? The composition is a little awkward...and the two separate subjects are competing...creates an uneasy tension. Perhaps....smaller aperature to flatten the image may make the image more appealing...but I like flat images like this. Others often do not