Please help me improve

[Shadowbox]

How could I have improved this photo?

I wanted to have all focus on the flower, and in the background a nice creamy OOF .. with some definition, slight definition, so as to be able to distinguish it was water/ducks instead of just a blur of color.

I am looking for critique on technique and not on subject. Thank you.

I also tried shooting in manual instead of A but I was having extremely overexposed photos. I have the book Understanding Exposure, I am in the process of reading it and learning from it, but I seem to have froze! I suddenly couldn't think, nothing was coming to me so I switch back to A mode. Not automatic but aperture. I grasp this aperture easily, it's Manual I have trouble with. I think its because of shutter speed that I have trouble with manual mode.

Thanks for the advice!

Also, does one ALWAYS have to stick to rule of thirds? Sticking to it this little green leaf is poking in at the bottom left, I could edit it on in PS, but sometimes is it okay to just break rule of thirds?

ISO 100 55mm f/5.6 1/250s


pinkflower11 (1 of 1) by acates2004, on Flickr

 

[KmH]

Why did you choose to use a horizontal framing? Your intended main subject is tall and narrow, like a vertically oriented frame.

The intended main subject occupies about 1/11th of the frame, and 10/11's of the frame is a blurry background, that has jittery, nervous looking bokeh.

Just on an image scale in the frame basis the blurred background has much more visual weight.

The long narrow flower is over exposed on the left, and under exposed on the right. In other words you needed to use supplimental light, like some flash.

 

[tirediron]

I'm not clear on what you want; your image seems to have acheived your stated aim; the only way to increase the unfocused appearance of the background would have been to use a larger aperture and/or a longer focal length. With respect to your question on the "Rule" of thirds, absolutely not. It is a guideline and nothing more. Generally speaking, most people find slightly off-centre subjects more pleasing to the eye, but this is by not means always the case. I would suggest searching the term "Golden mean" on the Internet for a more in-depth explanation of compositional layout.

 

[Shadowbox]

Thanks! I will look that up. I shoot horizontal a LOT. It has become a habit, and even when I try vertical I automatically turn the camera back to horizontal. The subject I wanted was the flower/blurred ducks so horizontal seemed to work. I will try a vertical composition in the future.

I didn't use any flash on that photo, I normally use my external flash and seldom my on camera flash. I wanted to try shooting without it to see how photos turn out with no flash in shade and in the sun. I was experimenting today.

 

[KmH]

Why " My Photos Are NOT OK to Edit "?

 

[Shadowbox]

when I first joined the site I didn't know exactly what it meant for people to edit your photos, but am thinking about changing that setting.

 

[Shadowbox]

pinkflower12 (1 of 1) by lifebyme, on Flickr

Vertical Edit!

 

[Compaq]

It means that we are allowed to download your shot, open it in photoshop, edit it and then post it here to demonstrate something. For example, your image has been commented on being in landscape orientation and suffering from harsh side lighting. Now, if we could edit your shot, we could try and improve upon it and show what we're trying to write. Watching is very pedagogic. People are actually willing to take the time to edit your shot as to show what they mean. It's a great way to learn and see how to improve shots that lack something.

:thumbsup:

 

[Shadowbox]

I realize that now thanks.

Here was my test shot in manual. My ISO was 400 from testing earlier with the books instructions but I still don't understand why the drastic overexposure.

manualtestshot (1 of 1) by lifebyme, on Flickr

 

[Compaq]

The drastic over exposure is due to too much light on your sensor... or your sensor was too sensitive to the light hitting it. Remember, when in manual, just look at the little thingamagee that moves around (like the thing when working the exposure compensation) when you adjust your exposure settings. When it's in the middle, your camera says it will be "correctly exposed". Yours have been at 3 stops+ over exposure, it seems. You'll find it in the viewfinder or in live view. Or on the small screen on top if you're camera has got one.

 

[Shadowbox]

Yes but I did not know how to change it back down to 0.. and you don't have to use terms like 'thingamagee' with me. Its words like this which confuse me. I need help with details. When I look through the viewfinder and it's not at 0 I froze up on what to adjust. My shutter speed or my iso or my aperture. Thanks

 

[Compaq]

I honestly don't know what to call it... seriously.. :/ like a ... eh. dot? line segment? lined dot segment moving across when you adjust the settings.

Maybe this just boils down to this: read your manual. In there you'll find everything you need to know about controlling your camera. To use manual mode, you must be able to adjust shutter speed, aperture and ISO efficiently. If you don't have a physical manual, find it on the interwebs.


Here's how I go about using manual mode taking shots of flowers, like you did.

1. decide which aperture I want (to decide the depth of field)
2. adjust the shutter speed until it's in the middle
3. if shutter speed is too low to be hand held, I turn up the ISO, which in return puts the measuring pin thing to go past 0
4. I then adjust the shutter speed again until the pin is zeroed.
5. focus
6. maybe recompose
7. *snap*


If I'm shooting moving objects, then my shutter speed is of greater importance.

 

[Shadowbox]

I have a manual and take it with me. I am dyslexic and have a very hard time with these numbers because they go in the opposite directions. So my manual says to keep the shutter faster than the focal length, my focal length is 55 then which side of 55 is faster.. because with aperture you let in more light the lower the number, and isn't it the same with shutter speed too? Then that would mean it has to be under 55 to be faster, well when I put it in aperture and I let it choose shutter speed it says 2500 so now I'm totally confused about numbers. Believe me, I read and read and practice and keep my manual right by my side, but the numbers mix me up. I prefer help from people because once someone shows/tells me I then know.

My husband helped me with aperture. He said every stop down is like going down a foot in water. So the deeper in water I go the less light I'll be exposed to (with the aperture the smaller the opening will be).

Now I need a good analogy for shutter speed. Thank you.

He is not a photographer, he helped me to learn that through my books. Thanks

 

[Compaq]

The way I like to think of it is to remember that the shutter speeds are fractions. When it says 100 on the display, it means 1/100th of a second. When it says 4, it means 1/4th of a second. Now, can we agree that 1/2500th of a second is notably quicker than 1/4th of a second?

Your aperture is the same. When we talk of aperture, we write, say, f/4. See the fraction again? f/4 means focal length divided by 4. This is going a bit further than you'll need to know, but it's something many people don't think about. Why does f/4 let in more light than f/11? Why, because your dividing your given f-number by a smaller number. Let's say you're shooting at 100mm, to make this easier. 100mm/4=25mm. 25mm is the diameter of the opening in the lens, the diaphragm. Now, when shooting with a 100mm lens at f/11, we get:

100mm/11=9.something mm.

We must keep these terms separate: f-number and aperture. the f-number is the "4" in f/4. The aperture is "f/4".

So, back to shutter speeds. We operate in stops here as well. One stop more light = twice the amount of light on sensor. If you have a shutter speed of 1 second to begin with, and then change it to 2 seconds. Then 2 seconds lets in twice the light as one second, agreed? 1/50th of a second lets in half the amount of light as 1/25th of a second.

In f-stops, each of these steps will half the amount of light hitting your sensor:

f/1.2 - 2 - 2.8 - 4 - 5.6 - 8 - 11 - 16 - 22 - 32

shutter speeds:

1 second - 0.5 seconds - 1/4th - 1/8th - 1/15th - 1/30th - 1/60 - 1/100 - 1/200 - 1/400 - 1/800 - 1/1600 - 1/3200
(these numbers are approximate, you see)


I fear this post became very untidy, but I hope you got something from it. Did I somehow answer your question?

 

[Shadowbox]

Yes!! thank you it makes so much more sense to me. I have read it multiple times, but I could not figure out if 4 or 240 was faster for example.. now I think I finally understand and it will come to me much easier when I try manual again. Thank you!