Okay forgive the settings as I am just learning the camera. Here are a few test photos using a lot of the auto modes. I did try a few manual settings, but I forgot how to adjust some of them and it was cold outside. I know the ISO is way off. I have to read the field guide again. So far it is a winner.

D5200 ISO 3200 55mm 0EV f16 1/50


ISO 590 55mm 0EV f5.6 1/60


ISO 3200 55mm 0EV f18 1/60


ISO 3200 55mm 0EV f18 1/30

I am assuming the reason for the high ISO values and the slow shutter speeds was that the photos were taken in very low lighting? I think you will really learn to love your new camera and learning all the settings and options is just part of having a new camera. Seems overwhelming at times, but before long you will be taking photos like a pro.

Looks like you have the focus very well under control here and it's so nice to see you are experimenting a bit with opening up the aperture a bit . Well done!

Some photos from today. The whites are so hard without accessory lighting. I will try again with a small setup.

These are all manually focused and there was a slight breeze so that made it a challenge.

ISO400 f5.6 1/125


ISO500 f10 1/60


ISO800 f16 1/60


ISO500 f8 1/60

Nice subjects! I like the black background - how did you do it?

Patty said:Nice subjects! I like the black background - how did you do it?

I made a backdrop from some waterproof material from the fabric store. I have it attached with velcro to PVC pipes that come apart for easy setup/storage.

I'll take a photo of it so you can see. $10 for the PVC and I went for a heavy duty waterproof black canvas material $40.

Smart! I'd like to see it. I def. need waterproof here!

Experiment
shot through a fuzzy green plant with purple flowers, window light
I was trying to get the Kalanchoe with some purple because I really like purple and orange together, but I didn't have a very clear angle

1/180 s, ISO 400, f/5.6, 90mm


I think it's neato, but I need to hear why it's not and suggestions for improvement
Thanks

I like it, Dirt!
I wonder if you cropped a little bit of the green off the bottom? It's a nice effect, but for some reason my eye would like a little less of it.

I'm rather fond of using out of focus foreground subjects to hide distractions and simplify the look of compositions so for my tastes the green foreground works extremely well, although of course I understand it may not be everyone's cup of tea. Outside it's super to use tall grass for this effect, creating an into the mist/pea soup look that if you aren't familiar with the technique often is mistaken for airbrushing in Photoshop, yet it's all 100% natural and only a result of using proper shooting technique.

The only thing I'm not quite sure of is if the purple out of focus flower really deserves the attention it gets here - it's like a screaming kid at the supermarket: Look at me, look at me, LOOK AT ME!!!! My suggestion would be that adding more purple, repeating it through the background and perhaps even adding some at the bottom would have given the purple more of a supporting role. Another option would be to consider the placement of the purple within the frame. A larger circle of purple behind the Kalanchoe, would help it stand out, sort of how you use a spotlight to illuminate and frame the star on a stage. Of course many options exists here, endless possibilities really. But this is good as seen, and small suggestions aside, this is an excellent image

That's one thing I'm terrible at - setting up a shot. I won't even move dead leaves out of the way when I'm shooting something outdoors - let along pose a shot. Kind of next-level stuff in my development. I realize that it's done all the time...but somehow strikes me as disingenuous on some level given how I like to shoot. Tho I do know that's a ridiculous opinion to have in the big picture.

I guess the takeaway here goes back to "knowing where to stand". Setting up the shot properly gives you a lot better opportunity to be standing in the right place.

Thanks!
that is helpful--like Asa said, I am also terrible at setting up a shot.
The green and purple were both in front of the flower, but with all those suggestions it occurs to me that gee--they are my flowers, I could have arranged them picked a few even, to put in the back

I'm also always stunned to realize that I can trim the annoying leaf that is crossing the front of the flower.

And I think that *both* of you are *great* at setting up shots!!

I occasionally lurk on this thread and thoroughly enjoy the discussions. Full disclosure: I do 'scroll on' when things get too technical...but I still get good take-aways.

Dirt, actually I think you have done a pretty good at setting up this shot, using out of focus foreground (and background) effects to paint a canvas for your flower, so you should give yourself some credit for that. The image you created isn't how it simply looks to the eye, rather it looks like something we can dream of and imaging in our minds, or more precisely what you wanted to create. Controlling this in more detail would be a step further on the road you already have taken, but it would certainly not be your first step!

I understand what you say, Asa. Really I do, however a garden is a product of love and work. We remove spent blooms, plants new plants and so on. Why would we then suddenly put restriction on doing the same to be able to take a better photograph? The other problem is that we don't remember things in the same way as a photograph does, because a photograph remembers everything present, every weed, every little detail, but our minds tend to be much more selective about these things, simplifying things as we go, remembering the flower and not the weed growing next to it. In this sense a painting can be a better representation of how we see and remember things than most photographs are.

Now if we wandered away into the wilderness photographing, things would be a little different, as we then would have a natural history aspect to consider, but imagine the following situation: You find a wonderful patch of a rare orchids and as you put down your tripod you suddenly discover a candy paper stuck in the inflorescence. While this would be an excellent opportunity to take a photo to illustrate how we destroy the environment with garbage, it would perhaps not give the image we imagined. It would no longer be a picture of an orchid, it's would more or less be a picture of a candy paper. Should we remove the paper or not? What if the paper wasn't a paper, but a leaf? The answer is perhaps that we actually can take as many versions of a subject like we want, with or without candy paper or leaves. Those images can all have their uses

Just a proof-of-concept experiment here:
playing with the lightbox and tried to create or recreate an acceptable arrangement there was a fair amount of swearing involved on my part--it's really not that easy to set something up the way I wanted to. I clearly need more practice with the whole spacial thing/lining stuff up and seeing the line and of course the flowers where closing up for the night and the other flowers kept falling off and out of the picture and the cats wanted to play in the lightbox and blah,blah,blah
I will have to try this again some other time when I have more patience and inspiration,
but here's a couple

f/3.5, 1/90, ISO 560

f/3.5, 1/90, ISO 400

Those are beautiful, Dirt--I especially like the top one!
It even makes me want to run out and buy some Flaming Katy Kalanchoe!

In spite of all the swearing and interruption from playful cats, I think you have created some lovely out of focus effects here, Dirt!!!
One of the challenges you have - even in a controlled environment - is that your macro lens is a bit on the short side for these kind of effects. as it obviously is much easier to achieve with a longer lens... so I can understand some of the frustration you feel here.

Thank you!
Ah yes, the limitations of 90mm I love the lens so much I refuse to take it off, even when we went thru the national parks who in their right mind would do Zion NP with a 90mm? No one
Asa is not so foolish, he shot with some longer lenses...maybe he will share