Need help with this picture: Since I am new to this, I took the advice that I have been getting here on this forum and have been trying new things. I took this picture and tried to...

kharris Loc: Utah

Since I am new to this, I took the advice that I have been getting here on this forum and have been trying new things. I took this picture and tried to focus in on the little white ends of this plant. I liked the effect but I noticed that the transition from the white to the green in the picture is not crisp, and there is either green or purple around the edges. I have tried to fix this in Lightroom but without success. Is it an improper focus issue? Any help would be appreciated.

Canon 60D, 50 mm 1.4 lens, f/1.4, 1/640 s, ISO 200

Close up view

mgemstone Loc: Chicago/Cocoa beach/La/NY

First, I like the image the way it is. At f1.4 you have almost no DOF and it appears the stem is slanted away from the lens going from top to bottom. If you match the slant with the angle of your camera, you might be able to capture the top and stem in focuss assuming the stem is straight. You could attempt to do this and increase your DOF by going to f11 or so. Use of a tripod would help accomplish this since your shutter speed will be slower if you don't increase you ISO.

tiger1640 Loc: Michigan

mgemstone wrote:

First, I like the image the way it is. At f1.4 you have almost no DOF and it appears the stem is slanted away from the lens going from top to bottom. If you match the slant with the angle of your camera, you might be able to capture the top and stem in focuss assuming the stem is straight. You could attempt to do this and increase your DOF by going to f11 or so. Use of a tripod would help accomplish this since your shutter speed will be slower if you don't increase you ISO.

Nice analysis of the picture. You have a good eye mgemstone.

madcapmagishion

Looks like nice Bokeh to me, but then i'm relatively new at this.

kharris Loc: Utah

Thanks for your analysis, I never thought of matching the slant of the stem with the angle of the camera.

Paw Paw Bill Loc: d

The focus issue has been well addressed. However, your other concern was the colors.

This plant has sections that are actually purple on the stem and other parts green from the clorophyll. These colors are present, but not prominent in the white section as well. When looking directly to the center of the stem, you see the white underlayer through a semi-transparent skin or film. When viewed at a near tangent, you see primarily this skin layer which contains some of the green and pruple elements of the plant. This is much of the same effect that causes the sun turn the sky red at dawn or evening. Light traveling through the longer path at a tangent begins to present more of the color present in the layer.

Dryart38 Loc: Carlsbad, NM

kharris! I've got a friend who shoots a bunch of photos at diffent focus points, but you must use a tripod and your subject must stay exactly the same for each shot. He then stacks the layers in Photoshop and prints the whole stack. It's not easy, but he comes up with some incredible super-macro shots of insects this way! Also, it's easier to do with a focusing platform for the camera!

pdwoodswood Loc: Lewisville, NC

Also, The sunlight at rise & set, being at a tangent to Earth,is also traveling through atmospheric dust, water vapor, pollution, etc which transmits colors in the 550nm to 450nm portion of the visible spectrum, more yellow, orange & red. At zenith the sunlight travels through much less atmospheric dust, etc. and therefore allows visibility in the 550-700nm, ie. more blue & UV. Sorry I lost focus on the original inquiry.

pfredd

Focus, depth of field, anything you're doing are all inconsequential The fringe you see (and thanks for the crop) is chromatic aberration. It is in the lens. Sometimes you can minimize by aperture, sometimes by colour editing. Also many programs like CS5 offer a 'defringing' option.
The shot is interesting. I like the focus choice, defined leaves would detract from the sharp curl. Might try cropping to just the lower curl because the great distance between the two now draws the eye through a field of nothing.

kharris Loc: Utah

pfredd, thanks for that insight, it helps a lot. I have CS5 but have not used it much. I have been doing most of my PP in Lightroom, and I tried to correct this but without any success. I will have to try using CS5.

pfredd

Great. Defringe hides at Layers>Matting>Defringe, Be aware you must play by CS rules, that is defringe is not available for background layer, so, if that's your only layer, double click its thumbnail in layers pallet and convert to 'Layer 0'
Removing your green on green is hard. If defringe doesn't do it try magic wand tool set for low tolerance to select the green fringe then paint that selection with adjacent darker green. If that leaves a slight separation line go back in history, do another selection then go Select>Modify>Expand 1 or 2 pixels. Raw conversion offers lens distortion correction that does a lot, but must shoot raw. Camera data has told raw Program what lens was used.

MCHUGH Loc: Jacksonville, Texas

You used an old view camera tech. Most commercial photographers used that often. Must admit tho I would not have thought about tilting a digital camera like I did the lens on my view camera. Don't know why because it is very logical. Have you used a view camera?

mgemstone Loc: Chicago/Cocoa beach/La/NY

yes, I learned about photography using view cameras. It is an advantage having experienced shooting with all manual cameras and shooting slide film. You learn to see and capture the light and the dark.

MCHUGH Loc: Jacksonville, Texas

I too started learning photography using view cameras, twin lens reflex, and 35mm cameras in the mid 60s. All manual and using a hand held light meter. I have no regrets. I too used many a roll of slide film, did not think color print film was good. The + or - 1/4 stop makes you very careful.