Thank you, Mishele! flower picture influence...

[pgriz]

So Mishele has shown us some of her gorgeous flower pics, including the ones at the gallery, and I loved them so much, I wanted to copy her style. Turns out, it's not so simple. I've shot many but none are yet anywhere her level of imagery.

However, I'm a stubborn person, and the ones below show a little of what I'm trying. Still a long way to go, but.... baby steps.

First, the one on the left is the way I have shot the flowers before. F/16 and lots of DOF.


The one on the right is at f/2.8.

Tamron 90mm macro for both, Tripod, delayed shutter release, focusing by live-view.

Personally, I really like the one on the right. What do you think?

 

[Desi]

The best part about this forum is the inspiration that you get from other members. It is cool to see the difference between the two shots you show. Mishele makes it so that you are seeing the flower as if through a dream. Looks like you are heading in the right direction.

 

[cgipson1]

Mishele is awsome, isn't she! I have tried to imitate her style too.. and have come close! But still not like she does it! Nice shots, though!

 

[JessicaLynn]

i definately like the photo on the right The white part of the flower is much brighter and vibrant. The flower is in great focus and there's no distractions from the plants in the background. I like how you are comparing what you used to do to what you are doing. Great way to learn

 

[Derrel]

"I knew mishele, and you sir are no mishele!" (A riff from from an old US Presidential political debate seen widely in the USA back in the mid-1990's.)

Anyyyywayyyy, silliness aside, I prefer the shot with the shallow DOF and the blurred background. There's a time and a place for shallow DOF, and these types of floral close-ups seem to be a particularly good place for it, and springtime is a great time for it. Some of the most impressionistic floral close-ups I have seen were made with older, ultra high-speed lenses, such as f/.7 to f/.9 lenses originally intended for use on oscilloscopes and photocopiers...talk about yer shallow depth of field!!! Glad to see this post.

 

[Actinometro]

The one on the right is awesome !

 

[Frequency]

Really Beautiful, the second one .... that is what a lens can do and human eyes cannot

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Mishele is Mishele and you will never copy her. Her soul is in her shots and your soul is not hers...

Not that this is bad, just not realistic. You need to come up with your own style. And to be honest, you shouldn't try to copy her except as an exercise.

And I'm not talking about copyrights or any of that crap... Just thinking about the fact that you are not Mishele. And she is one of a kind.

But keep at it and you will, I hope, find your own style.

Chers.

 

[pgriz]

Yeh, I know Cloudwalker. But part of learning new things, is to see if I can use her techniques to get something that looks like hers. I have, till recently, rarely used the wide-open apertures to isolate a subject, and after seeing the stunning results Mishele was able to get, resolved to at least experiment with the method and see what I could do with it. Turns out, it requires a different kind of visual conception, which I have by no means have a good grasp of, so this posting, was in effect a milestone of progress along what I image to be a long road. And I totally agree with you, Mishele is one of a kind. We are fortunate that she shares her art with us, to inspire, to teach, and occasionally, to annoy
us with her mastery of something we struggle at. Cheers!

And thanks to Frequency, Actinometro, Derrel, JessicaLynn, cgipson1, Desi, for looking, and your kind comments, and to BJ and Frequency for the likes.

When I experiment, I often don't have a good feel for how well (or poorly) I was able to do my "lesson". The comments are much appreciated.