Autumn leaf on moss

...or lack thereof :-(

Please see my comments on Feather and fern on moss and Moss and other undergrowth plants pictures in this folder. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated!

In regard to your question on sharpness, can you provide the following information:

Did you use a remote release or the self timer
Did you use mirror lock up
Are there any filters used
What lens was used

I am also interested in why you pushed the Velvia rather than just opening the aperture by one stop.

Initial thoughts as to the unsharpness could be:

Diffraction caused by the tiny aperture
Movement of the subject caused by air disturbance
Movement of the camera due to vibration
The filter or lens being used
The scanner used to digitise the negative

Edward, here it comes:

Did you use a remote release or the self timer

Did you use mirror lock up

I didn't have a cable release, but instead I used both two-second delay and mirror lock-up

Are there any filters used

Yes, but only one warming: Heliopan Multi-Coated KR1.5

What lens was used

I don't remember exactly which lens I used, but it must have been either Canon EF 28-135 IS USM at its longer end or Canon EF 100-400L IS USM at its shorter end

[W]hy you pushed the Velvia rather than just opening the aperture by one stop

The day was overcast and the forest quite dark, so since pushing +1 stop doesn't affect Velvia to a noticeable degree whilst slightly increasing contrast (so I read), I wanted to avoid reciprocity failure / color balance shift without sacrificing depth of field.

Initial thoughts as to the unsharpness could be:

Diffraction caused by the tiny aperture

Theoretically could be as the lens, regardless of which of the two it was, was stopped down as far as it goes

Movement of the subject caused by air disturbance

Rule this one out -- whether was pretty calm, at least in the forest

Movement of the camera due to vibration

Highly unlikely: the camera was mounted on a stable tripod (Gitzo Mountaineer Mk2 G1227) with a center column completely folded down; the camera was mated with a ball head with a dedicated RRS plate; Arca-Swiss B1 was locked tightly

The filter or lens being used

Both were of decent to high quality

The scanner used to digitise the negative

Just for the record, transparency film was the medium, not a negative. Considering that original slide looks sharp to me, my guess is that something went wrong during scanning. This, however, seems strange to me because the scanner, although not a drum, was (presumably) a good desktop film-dedicated one (sorry, don't now make or model) operated by an experienced person (not me) -- this batch was digitized by a stock agency.

Do you like this [simple] composition?

I llike the 2 colors forming this image , still I find planty of rooms to improve the sharpness technically while capturing such an image and not afterward.

 

 

Thank you for sharing and wishing you all of the best