perfect blossom

Critiques [Translate]

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• snaphappy (5464)
• [2009-07-14 0:10]
• [+]

good start though you could follow these tips.
Before you press the shutter release button (take the picture) stop and look at what you can see through the view finder or what you can see on the screen on your camera.
Are there any distracting objects in view?
Are there any bright areas of the image that will distract the eye of the person looking at your image, away from the main point of focus?
Is everything in focus?
Could the picture be improved by moving a little?
Training yourself to stop and think for a few seconds can help you produce much more pleasing images.
Always take 2 or 3 shots of your subject from different angles or positions.
As taking digital pictures is essentially free, it’s worth experimenting as much as possible. So if you see something that you think will make a good picture, try taking several pictures of it. Move closer in, or further away. Choose different angles, maybe a lower or higher viewpoint.
This will help you learn more about composition, one of the most important things to learn in photography.
This fills the frame with more detail from the shot rather than the wider view and can help pick out certain details more effectively.
Getting really close may give your image a more abstract look where patterns and shapes make the image instead of a recognisable object.
Patience is indeed a virtue for nature photographers but sometimes it becomes quite obvious that the subject of your interest isn't going to play ball and you will have to wait till next time, next year, to try again. Flora photography can be so unbelievably frustrating, not to mention time consuming and utterly absorbing.
Secondly, never assume that the first bloom you come across is the one for you. Chances are there will be a better one nearby, so go hunting. It's all too easy to begin shooting the first specimen of a new species, spending valuable daylight minutes and expending film only to happen across an even more photogenic one around the corner. Choose a flower that is freshly opened, free from damage and easily accessible and then take some time working out the optimum viewpoint.
it's the selected aperture that will make or break a flower shot. Too small and the background will be too focussed, competing with the main subject. Too wide and there may not be sufficient detail to make the image work. For environmental plant portraits close down a long way to capture some detail in the background, but still leaving it slightly out of focus to enable the subject to stand out well.