Black Outlnes: A friend of mine gave me two catus plants and they bloomed shortly after. I thought I would take some photos and have some prints made to give as a thank you. I noticed...

MTG44 Loc: Corryton, Tennessee

A friend of mine gave me two catus plants and they bloomed shortly after. I thought I would take some photos and have some prints made to give as a thank you. I noticed that there is a black outline on the flower. Is there a way to eliminate this in PP or in the set up in the camera. Thanks

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10MPlayer Loc: California

I think the problem could be because the whole thing is out of focus. Try stopping down the aperture to F11 or F16 and use enough light to make it well lit. You'll get more of it in focus that way. Use a tripod if you have one. Red is always going to be hard. I posted a question here a while back because some red roses I shot weren't sharp despite everything I did. It turns out digital sensors just don't work as well with red as they do with other colors.

Meives Loc: FORT LAUDERDALE

[quote=MTG44]I can't advise on PP for this picture, but question some of the camera settings. Why was such a long lens used. 230mm? The shutter speed is OK for the long lens. Many believe the ISO should be 100. New cameras can easily go to 800, 1600, 3200 with no noise. This would allow the f stop to shut down to F 11 or more and give a better DOF, depth of field. I don't think this shot was as sharp as it should be. David

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

10MPlayer wrote:

...It turns out digital sensors just don't work as well with red as they do with other colors.

I'm so glad someone finally said that outloud! It is so frustrating to have this really expensive up-to-date camera that can't shoot reds as well as my film cameras!

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread!

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

It's a problem with the lighting. If you were to use some lights on the flower or if you had better light and perhaps a reflector, you would get better results. Also, it is a little soft as someone harshly said out of focus. They could stop down for more depth of field, use a tripod for keeping the camera steady.

MTG44 wrote:

A friend of mine gave me two catus plants and they bloomed shortly after. I thought I would take some photos and have some prints made to give as a thank you. I noticed that there is a black outline on the flower. Is there a way to eliminate this in PP or in the set up in the camera. Thanks

shelty Loc: Medford, OR

I will presume, because of the sensor, you have an interaction with the red and green. I would say change the color of the background. The lenses that I have I always shoot at f8 because that is the sharpest f stop on the lens. I only go larger or smaller if I have to because of what I'm shooting. Back in the 4x5 days I always shot at f64. That is to get some sort of depth of field.

MTG44 Loc: Corryton, Tennessee

10MPlayer wrote:

I think the problem could be because the whole thing is out of focus. Try stopping down the aperture to F11 or F16 and use enough light to make it well lit. You'll get more of it in focus that way. Use a tripod if you have one. Red is always going to be hard. I posted a question here a while back because some red roses I shot weren't sharp despite everything I did. It turns out digital sensors just don't work as well with red as they do with other colors.

On my screen the photo is fairly focused but not sharp. On the UHH site not so. Anyway it was shot at F9,no tripod . It was just a quick shot and thought i would ask. Thanks for the reply. Yes red is tough.

MTG44 Loc: Corryton, Tennessee

[quote=Meives]

MTG44 wrote:

I can't advise on PP for this picture, but question some of the camera settings. Why was such a long lens used. 230mm? The shutter speed is OK for the long lens. Many believe the ISO should be 100. New cameras can easily go to 800, 1600, 3200 with no noise. This would allow the f stop to shut down to F 11 or more and give a better DOF, depth of field. I don't think this shot was as sharp as it should be. David

Yes I am finding out reds are difficult and it is hard to fix or photograph when you think you have done everything right. Frustrating but one of the fun parts of learning how to be a good photographer. The ISO was 100 which is usually where I try shoot and yes it is soft. Thanks very much for replying.

MTG44 Loc: Corryton, Tennessee

jeep_daddy wrote:

It's a problem with the lighting. If you were to use some lights on the flower or if you had better light and perhaps a reflector, you would get better results. Also, it is a little soft as someone harshly said out of focus. They could stop down for more depth of field, use a tripod for keeping the camera steady.

I am not sure if it was the lighting ,still learning that phase, but the sun was at my back which made the flower in full bright light. Next time I will try in a different time of day for softer light. Thanks for responding with your soft criticism.

MTG44 Loc: Corryton, Tennessee

shelty wrote:

I will presume, because of the sensor, you have an interaction with the red and green. I would say change the color of the background. The lenses that I have I always shoot at f8 because that is the sharpest f stop on the lens. I only go larger or smaller if I have to because of what I'm shooting. Back in the 4x5 days I always shot at f64. That is to get some sort of depth of field.

Thanks for your help and will experiment with fF stops.

WayneW Loc: South Carolina

I'd like to see how this would have turned out with just a little backlighting. I carry a crumpled up chip bag that has an aluminized interior, just for things that need a touch of fill. Its almost indestructable and the more wrinkles in it, the better. It lives in a side pocket in my camera bag. Now I'm gonna go out and shoot some reds to see if I can duplicate this issue :)

canon Lee

MTG44 wrote:

A friend of mine gave me two catus plants and they bloomed shortly after. I thought I would take some photos and have some prints made to give as a thank you. I noticed that there is a black outline on the flower. Is there a way to eliminate this in PP or in the set up in the camera. Thanks

A simple solution would be to position the Cactus on a windowsill, and adjust using 100mm lens in aperture priority, ISO 100%, no flash.

Reds are always a problem, that is why skin tones always need WB and desaturation.

10MPlayer Loc: California

jeep_daddy wrote:

It's a problem with the lighting. If you were to use some lights on the flower or if you had better light and perhaps a reflector, you would get better results. Also, it is a little soft as someone harshly said out of focus. They could stop down for more depth of field, use a tripod for keeping the camera steady.

How is saying a soft image is out of focus harsh? It certainly wasn't meant to be anything more than an honest evaluation. The OP asked for an assessment of the picture and I took a few minutes of my time to give an honest answer. I don't see how that was harsh. I'm one who likes to blast some of the jerks around here who never have much good to say. I'd hate to think something I said was taken in offense. It was meant to be harsh.

10MPlayer Loc: California

MTG44 wrote:

On my screen the photo is fairly focused but not sharp. On the UHH site not so. Anyway it was shot at F9,no tripod . It was just a quick shot and thought i would ask. Thanks for the reply. Yes red is tough.

I was just guessing. I honestly don't know. It may well be an interaction between the two colors as you said. I was guessing that the soft focus may have caused the edges to look darker. It's common to see a fringe or halo around parts of an image that have a soft focus.

Heather Iles Loc: UK, Somerset

10MPlayer wrote:

How is saying a soft image is out of focus harsh? It certainly wasn't meant to be anything more than an honest evaluation. The OP asked for an assessment of the picture and I took a few minutes of my time to give an honest answer. I don't see how that was harsh. I'm one who likes to blast some of the jerks around here who never have much good to say. I'd hate to think something I said was taken in offense. It was meant to be harsh.

I partly agree with you when people have nothing to say and worse are those who put "thumbs up".

With regards to I quote "It was meant to be harsh", perhaps constructive would have been a better word. It is not what you say, it is how you say it. I am sure you were giving constructive criticism which is appreciated by us Novices.