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JenFruzz β Precipice
Published: 2014-11-01 22:19:41 +0000 UTC; Views: 747; Favourites: 38; Downloads: 0
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Description
Having some more fun with water droplets. Actually getting the hang of it slowly but surely and LOVING my new macro lens. Feels good to take these closeups again.Your suggestions are welcome, please! Looking to improve these
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Comments: 19
To start with something nice:
I really like the colors, especially the slight gradient to darker/red tones at the right side. it gives the whole image some sort of dynamic orientation, highlighting the subject and containing the surroundings.
I'd even consider that part of the composition, which brings me to the structure:
Its a classic in my opinion and the golden ratio arguably never is a wrong choice. So as much as i like innovation and seeing something new i won't say it's bad not to (because let's face it: sometimes those experiments go horribly wrong).
Lets move on to the subject itself:
A waterdrop on a petal. Not what i would call the personification of innovative.
But you did mention it's one of your first shots with the new lens , so i'll not judge too much here.
As a training subject waterdrops actually are great because you'll need a lot of controll over both focus and aperture to really create a perfeclty sharp and in-depth image.
Which brings me to technique (master of transition):
The choice of f5.6 seems to be almost perfect here, the drop is completely in focus while most of the petal is nicely smoothed by the shallow depth of field. I said "almost" because i feel the flower pistils could be a little smoother still. The irregular spotted appearance is a little distracting. Instead of via DoF you could also cange this in post by simply lowering the contrast in that area.
But back to the shooting:
The way you uploaded it is kinda small so im not 100% sure, but it seems still a little blurred. Definitely not a focus-issue, so since you used a tripod try to turn the Image Stabilizer off, as it actually blurs the image in combination with the tripod (look it up if you don't believe me). Now some lenses handle close subjects better with their auto-focus than others and some camera bodies have enough focus fields for every possible need you could think of, but i personally still prefer manual focus as it just gives you the most control possible. You should try doing it too if you aren't already.
And last but not least: since you are already using photoshop cc make use of the tools "Noise Reduction" and "Mask Blur"! ISO noise is very low in this particular image, as you did shoot at ISO100 (which is something you should always try to do) but you'll most likely encounter situations where its just not possible, so make sure you can handle higher ISOs without too much noise. Thats about it for technique, moving on.
As i said before i view this as a training shot, so there is not much need for a theme or concept behind it. Still i find the whole orienation very refreshing to look at. I can see a basic structure of two crossed "lines", one as the course of brightness and the other as the gradient of the same, with their intersection in the main subject. This way my eye is effectively guided straight to the drop but at the same time doesn't loose it's perception of the image as a whole.
This isn't a very common and rather enjoyable occurance, as most pictures tend to either focus closely and solely on one point or on none at all, while this one provides more of a starting point to exlore the rest of it.
Actually i think i'll have to take back what i said earlier about the depth-of-field: It's better the way it is, because the fact that some details and shapes can still be distinguished really adds to said effect. So i'd go with the post-processing to make the pistils a little less distracting (but only a little!)
A few final words:
Though it may only be a practice shot its definitely showcases a lot of potential and ultimatley is a joy to look at.
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I am jealous of such a focused shot, I've dabbled in bug and droplet macro photography and its so hard to get such a nice neat outcome
lovely colour orange tooΒ
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Ah, this was taken with my macro lens, which also happens to be the love of my life 
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Anytime! ready for thanksgiving?
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I am! Mousse is setting in the fridge and that's all I have to bring to my aunt's house. Phew! You?
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Love the color of this one!Β
Nice pic!
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