Alyssum

[viewfinder]

A few of the alyssum from our front yard. The first is spot metering and the others center weighted, you can see the difference in the darken background.

Comments, critiques and feedbacks most welcome.

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Regards,
Jonathan

 

[spfanatic]

Jonanthan, Now why hasn't someone commented on this one yet?!
They are lovely! I like the colors in #1, but I think the composition in #2 is unique and I like it a lot.

 

[Mitchell-Krog]

These are great Jonathan, you have put plain old Alyssum into a world of it's own. Very nice compositions.

 

[viewfinder]

Thanks Pam and Mitch!

They are just plain old alyssum, but they are always there and I tend to go pass them and onto the daisies and roses. The better half is growing something different this year, like anemone and buttercup, etc. Should be fun!

Regards,
Jonathan

 

[Leigh]

Beautiful...I love the intense purple against the dark background on the first one. The little specks of yellow really make it pop!

 

[DanielD]

Jonathan, these are great!
I concur with what Leigh said, did you already had that in mind when shooting or was it the lucky outcome of PP?
The composition of #3 I also like very much.

 

[viewfinder]

Thank Leigh and Daniel.

I usually do my composition while I am shooting, so that part is pretty much decided at that point. Spot metering is my exposure mode of choice, and I use it a lot to isolate (darken the background) the subject.

As for PP and colour adjustment, I usually don't do any curve adjustment, mostly just contrast adjustment (auto contrast works most of the time). The colour cast out of the camera is pretty good for the D200 (and D70). I almost always shoot with Cloudy -2 whitebalance for flowers, especially in the shade, so the end result is a little warmer than usual.

Regards,
Jonathan

 

[DanielD]

While I also try my best not to shoot anything without thinking about composition first, the composition of the first one would not have come to my mind that way. I like it very much and will keep it in mind.

I guess I do need some more experience in guessing how the final composition of wide open macro shots will look like. I find myself stopping down more than needed, especially on macros.

 

[docsol]

Well captured! All of them are terrific, but the last one looks most special to my eyes. What lens are you using, and what aperture?

 

[Kevin Scott]

The purples and greens together are quite stunning! Very nice, as always Jonathan. They're very similar to what our Lantana looks like.

 

[viewfinder]

Well captured! All of them are terrific, but the last one looks most special to my eyes. What lens are you using, and what aperture?

Thanks Ken.

These were shot using the 105mm micro (non-VR), hand-held, 1/250 shutter priority, apertures are under f4. Clicking on the image should take you to the gallery, click on the small camera icon above the image will show you the EXIF data.

I find that a busy (not too busy though) background and shallow DOF will give you a nice painting effect, which is something I like.

Regards,
Jonathan

 

[viewfinder]

The purples and greens together are quite stunning! Very nice, as always Jonathan. They're very similar to what our Lantana looks like.

At least they are not blue-and-purple :wink:

Lantanas are classified as weed Downunder, and they stink! But yes, they do look very similar, at least the flowers. Alyssum is more of a ground cover. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alyssum


Regards,
Jonathan

 

[natansgal]

Those are beautiful. I am just now learning about center metering... thats for inspiring me.

 

[Robert]

Jonathan,

These are all very lovely. I'm especially drawn to the first...love the overall darker look to it and the resulting contrasts. Nicely done!!!:smile:

 

[viewfinder]

Thanks Tami and Robert!

Not much secret to the center weighted metering Tami, you just need to experiment and get a feel for when you need to do so. You can try different metering modes for the same shot and compare the results, then pick the ones that worked out best.

Regards,
Jonathan

 

[MiriamJ]

Lovely treatment of these little flowers. Your metering and shallow depth of focus work so well here.

 

[TomP]

Very very nice, #2 is my favorite.

 

[viewfinder]

Thanks Miriam and Tom!

I like the caricature of your avatar Tom!

Regards,
Jonathan