Natures Beauties close ups

[Markyboy1]

I went for a walk with my favorite lens around a local nature reserve the other day. These are a few of the better ones I got and im just wondering if there is anything I could do to improve :thumbs:


1 by m from s****horpe, on Flickr


2 by m from s****horpe, on Flickr


3 by m from s****horpe, on Flickr


4 by m from s****horpe, on Flickr


5 by m from s****horpe, on Flickr

As always any critique is always welcome

Mark

[Jediboy]

I think that you've caught the detail quite well and the composition works. But for me they look a tad underexposed.

[Markyboy1]

Thank you Jediboy, I think I need to sort my monitor out because I keep doing this and they always look ok when I PP them. Maybe just a calibration issue.

Mark

[markgozz]

Very nice sharp detail and well composed set of images Mark .

Two small points,

Watch out for your backgrounds , I know it's a lot easier said than done but the first two images I think would benefit from having the background stems removed . ( the second one isn't too bad but that one large stem at the back is a bit distracting )

The other point is on image's 1, 2 , and 4 , all look like they have a reddish colour cast unless that's deliberate .

Mark

[Markyboy1]

Originally Posted by markgozz

Very nice sharp detail and well composed set of images Mark .

Two small points,

Watch out for your backgrounds , I know it's a lot easier said than done but the first two images I think would benefit from having the background stems removed . ( the second one isn't too bad but that one large stem at the back is a bit distracting )

The other point is on image's 1, 2 , and 4 , all look like they have a reddish colour cast unless that's deliberate .

Mark

Thank you Mark, I did try to remove the large one in the second shot but it looked messy as for the reddish colour cast I have no idea why but my lens seems to do that a lot specially on close up shots.

Mark

[markgozz]

Colour cast is one of the easier corrections to make in PP , if you shoot in RAW then it's just a matter of adjusting the white balance slider and if you shoot in JPEG then I usually use the grey point eye dropper in the levels adjustment and just click around on a neutral greyish part of the image until I get a result that I like .

Mark

[nick_gray]

I'm not sure if you want to know what these are, but the first two images are the dried flower head of teasel (probably wild teasel Dipsacus fullonum), the third image is the cone of the alder (I think either the common alder Alnus glutinosa or Italian alder Alnus cordata, the Italian alder has a smoother bark and pointed ends to the leaves), the forth image is the male flower/catkin, again of the alder. I'm not great on grasses, and I can't tell how tall it is or where it's growing, so I can only guess that the fifth image might be the flower/seed heads of the common reed Phragmites australis.

I hope this helps.

Nick

[Jediboy]

Originally Posted by nick_gray

I'm not sure if you want to know what these are, but the first two images are the dried flower head of teasel (probably wild teasel Dipsacus fullonum), the third image is the cone of the alder (I think either the common alder Alnus glutinosa or Italian alder Alnus cordata, the Italian alder has a smoother bark and pointed ends to the leaves), the forth image is the male flower/catkin, again of the alder. I'm not great on grasses, and I can't tell how tall it is or where it's growing, so I can only guess that the fifth image might be the flower/seed heads of the common reed Phragmites australis.

I hope this helps.

Nick

Impressive knowledge Nick. I don't suppose you know what the red berries are I entered in the comp this week?? To me they are just red berries, but I would be interested to know what they are?
Cheers

Chris

[nick_gray]

Originally Posted by Jediboy

Impressive knowledge Nick. I don't suppose you know what the red berries are I entered in the comp this week?? To me they are just red berries, but I would be interested to know what they are?
Cheers

Chris

I'm pretty sure you've got firethorn/pyracantha Pyracantha angustifolia, although the leaves in your photos are thinner and more pointed than in my reference books, so it might be a different species or cultivar. Having said that some cotoneasters also look a bit like pyracantha.

Regards

Nick

[Markyboy1]

Thank you Nick, I had no idea what they were I just liked the look of them and had to try shoot them

Mark