still learning

digifreak8810 · Mar 8, 2015

I'm pretty new at macro. But I love taking pics of random things.

sm4him · Mar 8, 2015

Well, that IS random. And it's sideways...

Did you want critique on this?
Macro can be a tough thing to do well; takes some time and practice to start getting consistently good.
Are you using a macro lens? Extension tubes? Reversed lens?

The biggest thing I'd mention about this photo: The light is too harsh. Looks like it was taken smack in the middle of the day when the light is the harshest. As a result, not only is the overall lighting too harsh, but the background is brighter than your subject. The eye tends to be attracted to the area of a photo that is the brightest--in this case, that means the eye is being drawn to the background, and not the subject.

digifreak8810 · Mar 8, 2015

Thanks for the advise. Actually, the plant was on its side as is. I used a regular lens, zooms to 300mm, with this. Something I'm just playing around with.

digifreak8810 · Mar 8, 2015

So is this one better. I really am trying to get better and only way is to take critic. Lol

sm4him · Mar 8, 2015

Ah, okay, the lens explains one thing--these aren't truly "macro." They're just reasonably close, pictures of an isolated subject. Not that it really matters to what you're trying to do.

The lighting in the second photo is much better; nice blurred background that is darker than your subject, and the lighting on the subject is not nearly as harsh either.
The biggest issue with the second photo is the focus. Not sure what your aperture was, but you didn't have a very wide DOF here--it looks like your focus was on the stem and that little bud with the teeny red spot, but because of the narrow DOF, the hanging pods in front and behind that stem are OOF (out of focus).
Now, I sometimes have a narrow DOF in macro, or general closeups, on purpose, but if you do that, it's best to have the front object in focus, not a spot somewhere in the middle (in general).

What were your settings on that second shot?

digifreak8810 · Mar 8, 2015

I had it set on those spots on purpose because I was playing around with the back button and the different focus modes. Lol I learned there was one and its pretty neat. was reading an article that explained different focus modes and figured it'd be fun to do.

digifreak8810 · Mar 8, 2015

I really do appreciate all the feed back. Guess I should have put it in close ups. Lol. Now I have a better understanding of lighting as well. I will always keep that in mind.

sm4him · Mar 8, 2015

Since these are just practice shots, then I'd say if the focus is spot on to where you were aiming for, you done good! ;-) But as a general rule, you may also want to use a high enough aperture to get the entire subject in focus. Or a greater percentage of it, anyway.

I'd probably post things like this in either Nature & Wildlife, or in General Gallery. You might also get more comments that way. I just browse the Active Topics, so don't usually even notice what subforum something is in, but some do look only in forums that interest them, so posting in macro may result in a smaller "audience."