Lily

I am just beginning to take photos after a year of not using my

camera. I was an amature then too though! This photo is unaltered.

I am more concerned about the asthetics and "eye-appeal" of my

photos. I am hoping to be able to produce photographs that I can

print at work, while giving Printer Demonstrations. Therefore, I am

also seeking opinions as to whether any of my photos would a

good "Printer Test".

This photo unedited, however, I do plan on seeing what I can do with

it using photoshop to enhance it. Always open to suggestions, etc..

 

Thanks!

I like this because of the strong colours. You might try the shot in vertical (portrait) format to include more of the second lily, and reduce the amount of background.

 

Another thing to try is reducing the depth of field to blur the background more. Unfortunately that also makes it harder to get the flowers in full focus, but it would be worth trying to see the effect.

I have NO CLUE how to change that... anyone care to explain? Obviously, I am an amature and read the "How To's" when time allows, but I haven't crossed this subject yet. I'm using a Nikon Coolpix 995. Also, is there a way to edit the depth of field in Photoshop to make this look better?

Thanks!

Tricia. This is nice and I know you want to improve which is great. The problem with this one is that the background is a distraction from your main subject. You need to get in closer or shoot it with a larger f number, i.e. f4, f3, f2. This will give you less DOF, which means that objects beyond your point of focus will be very blurred so that they won't distract. Concentrate on just a certain part of the flower that is interesting. The best way to do this is with cropping in Photoshop or similar software. Keep trying and posting and you will improve!

 

best regards

Martin.

I agree with martin. Its the background which distracts. You could try getting closer to the subect (if your camera can focus more closely) or try a different view point so that there is a darker, less busy background to enhance the shape of the amazing Lily.

Of course, you could improve things in Photoshop by selecting all the background, darkening it, adding gaussian blur... but it is not a good way to progress in photography. As you have a digital camera, it is easy to take the same picture with different exposures (F-Stops), and you will easily see what Martin and Richard mean. When you are new in photography, you tend to concentrate on the main subject, but actually a good subject is one thing, to make a good picture is an other. First, there is the light. A good light is often more important than a good subject, but you seem to have already understood it. Then there is the shooting angle, the depth of field, and so on... I would advise you to shoot the same picture with some variations : F-stop, exposure correction, move the focus point, and so on. The best improvement I find in digital cameras (I have just got one last month) is that you don't have to wait for the prints to see the consequences of such variations. If the result satisfies you, you keep it, if not, you just delete it... But I don't pretend to master everything myself, and my statistics on my new camera are that I delete half of my pictures just after having shot them... Keep on clicking :)) Michel