[lucy]

These are some pictures I took a month ago.
The composition is pretty average, I thought.
But what bothers me the most is that the images are not sharp.
I had the camera rested on top of pile of books.
I also tried to take the photos with timer so I didn't have to press the shutter button.
Any ideas and feedback, please...

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3.


Thank you.

lucy

[shuttertalk]

Hey lucy, first of all, nice flowers! I really like the deep vibrant colour against the black background.

Just wondering - what camera are you using? I tried shooting roses indoors as well using incandescent light with my D50, and was disappointed. I think it was a combination of over saturation of the reds, and not enough light, and maybe a focus issue thrown in here and there, but I could not get it looking sharp! I was using a tripod too.

I guess most obvious is to check your focus - sometimes if you're using autofocus, it might lock onto the wrong part - i.e. the glass or the stem, instead of the petals.

For my case, I'm thinking maybe a stronger light source and maybe a slightly smaller aperture to increase the depth of field would have helped perhaps?

[NT73]

I had an issue with flower focussing. I took macro shots of little (wedding type) horseshoes on a tablecloth at approx.25-30 mm away. Perfect. I then tried to take a flower in a vase on the table at 70-100 mm away, still on macro and it would not focus. All shots were blurry. I guessed the auto-focus mechanism did not like the flower edges or something like that.
Suggest you try different light levels, a little further away from the subject, or manual focus.

[Wedding Shooter]

Your camera was probably trying to set the aperture wide open to allow for the lack of light - hence limiting your depth of field. Try shooting in aperture priority mode (usually AV mode) and set it to a higher number and set you focus manually or pay close attention to the auto focus point.

Lovely shots and I think the composition is fine.

[Schellamo]

Cool shots, love the colours and the clean composition.
I agree with Jules (shuttertalk) on this one, I find that sometimes the focus on the 350D can be off a bit sometimes, try switching to manual focus and see how that goes (and the more light the better of course) what were your settings?

[zedbra]

Hi Lucy, I think the shots are very good, and as has already been said, the vibrant colours against a black background look really nice.

Just another thought to add to what's already been said about the focusing issue. What I found recently was that images can appear blurred even when the focus is accurate, if you've shot with the minimum f number. I had terrible problems with this recently and I eventually setup a test, photographing a pile of books. I used different lenses, different amounts of zoom, different f numbers, etc, and took them all on a tripid and using the timer to avoid chance of camera-shake. When I looked at the results I was surprised to see that all the low f shots were blurred, regardless of the other settings, and when on high zoom too they were positively terrible. Someone else suggested that your camera may have been set to minimum f to cater for low light, so maybe what I'm saying could have caused you a similar problem as it caused me? Just a thought.

Geoff.

[Petographer]

I think you did very well. The colour is most brilliant and I think sharpness is fine. The close crop in the last image is perfect. Better than average Lucy. Very well done!

[Keith Alan]

Lucy, I agree with you that these aren't very sharp, and would be as disappointed as you seem to be.
For my flower shots I get as close as possible, well into the 'macro' focusing range of my camera and usually 6" or less at my widest-angle setting = no zoom.
Then I put as much light as possible on them when indoors.

Take a look through the two pages of photos I have posted in the following linked gallery.
Garden Guides Forum
Most were done hand-held, and the aperture was often wide-open.
I got very close to the subjects and managed to capture some fine details.

Keep working on your flower shots and I'm sure you'll find happiness soon.

[lucy]

Hi Everyone,
Thank you very much for your inputs.

shuttertalk, I use Canon 350D, and I used autofocus for the shots. I set up the flowers on the floor, near/under the window. I will set it up a bit higher up to get more light.

NT3, I will experiment with various distances to the subject. I just checked the exif data of the pictures, and they have 60 and 90mm focal lengths.

WeddingShooter and Schellamo, I had my camera settings at Aperture priority at around f8.
I definately need to train my eyes better when focusing. There are just too many photos that looked focused when I took them, until I display them on the PC

Geoff, thanks for the comments. I think I also need to do what you did; create a setup and experiment with different variables and really compare the differences they make.

Petographer, thank you for the comment. You are too kind

KeithAlanK, great photos on your gallery. My favourite is the one of tulip.

Thanks again for your inputs, they are much appreciated.
Shooting flowers is definately going to be my project in the coming weekends.

lucy

[Schellamo]

Hey lucy,
I had a similar problem to you- everything looked focused until I got it on the computer, and then I realised that the 350D has dioptic adjustment built in, I turned mine to -1 (its a little dial on the eyepeice) and voila, things were focused (including the numbers at the bottom of the viewfinder).
Of course, I don't always get photos in focus, but I have a better chance LOL

[Toad]

I don't think that sharpness is an issue, Lucy. These look fine to me. Certainly nothing that the smallest smidgin of USM wouldn't cure completely...