First proper Macro shots

[tommayor]

Just a couple of Macro shots using my Canon 60mm Macro lens. (first real go at Macro)

they are done in aperture priority mode. and with a picture style similar to landscape (i tweaked the contrast or maybe another setting to being out the greens)

1st - shutter 1/8 aperture 5.6 focal length 60mm

2nd - shutter 1/20 aperture 4.0 focal length 60mm

3rd - shutter 1/8 aperture 6.7 focal length 60mm

hope you like them, i like how its not quite what it seems at first glance...

[Kaye]

Hi Tom,
I think you have done a great job at your first go at Macro.
From the thumbnails, I thought they were real flowers :D (but not being real does not detract from your shots).

I love the shallow DOF you have achieved in all of them.
As far as composition, my preference is No. 1. I also prefer you angle and sharpness in this shot.

[tommayor]

thanks for your comments!

i also prefer the first shot from a composition point of view. but i like 2 and 3 for the tips of the 'petals'. they sort of jump out more..

i only used natural lighting and was concerned they may be slightly too dark.

[Kaye]

Tom, I think the focus is a personal preference. Eg. if you choose to focus on the stamen of a plant, then the stamen should be sharp, and the petals will blur in parts, depending upon your settings, but mainly your angle.

I do agree with you in 2 & 3, but I still like the overall composition of 1 better.

Re the darkness, perhaps your White Balance settings could have been set differently.

What were your ISO settings on these shots out of curiosity?

[tommayor]

thats a point, i think the white balance was set to Auto.

i will check my iso settings later on, but as i was using a tripod i think i set it quite low, probably around the 200 mark.

the white balance and iso settings seem to get a bit forgotten at the moment as i wasnt used to setting them before on my 35mm camera.

if i had shot these in RAW i could of changed it afterwards... ill remeber next time :)

thanks for your thoughts!

Tom

[AndyP]

These are great for your first attempt, keep on going it is hard, but really rewarding

Thanks for sharing these.

Andy