Orchid Twins

[jcdeb]

D7200, 85mm 1.8g, f/2.8, 1/160s, ISO 400, Spot meter, Single point AFS. My goal was to get the color to pop and in good focus.

Didn't edit very much. Pretty good size crop as planned. Just feels a little sterile and non creative too me. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcomed. Thanks for viewing a noob photo.

[elsa hoffmann]

Nice try - and I am glad you posted it - however it is soft. (not sharp)

I see your setting was f2.8 - which means your depth of field was too small, hence the softness, but even overall I dont see the sharp spot.
I am for sure not NG's resident macro shooter - so you will get some more comments and advise. Mine would be to stick the camera on a tripod, put the camera on manual focus - not difficult as the flower is not running anywhere, and decide what/how much you want in focus. Work out the f stop you need on the DOF calculator - and you will get a much clearer shot.of course you dont have to use the DOF calculator - but it will be a good exercise to see whats plotting in-focus wise.
Do you have any macro lenses?

[Jakov Minić]

JC, there are really nice images of flowers posted on NG.
Perhaps looking at them might help with inspiration?

I like it when the background is creamy and doesn't interfere with the main subject.

Suggestions:
1. In your case, I would have shot the orchids from a lower angle and making the sky as a uniformed background. That would help in making the orchids more prominent.
2. You can also try shooting into the sun with fill in flash? Just pop up the built in flash of your D7200 and try it in any mode

[armando_m]

the color looks great

if you want it to look more creative maybe you have to experiment with the background and direction of light

[jcdeb]

Thanks for the instructions. I do have a macro and normally use it but I was working this day on a DOF project. Unfortunately, tripods were not allowed on this day. So stop down the aperture, lower the angle, tripod, manual focus. Thanks.

[jcdeb]

Fill flash. This was indoors, limited light. I will revisit next time in area to implement instruction..

[elsa hoffmann]

buy your wife/girlfriend/partner/yourself/neighbour's wife  some flowers. Park in front of a window for light.
Play.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

The required depth of field for the main subject must be balanced against the changes stopping down will impart to the background (on occasion, also to any unsharp foreground).

Flowers are patient subjects, in particular when they are indoors. By itself this will not making good photos of them any easier for the photographer, although playing with the camera and approach might be more rewarding when the subject is fixed.

Creative flower photography has to venture far beyond mere depiction of the subjects. Thus, creativity is a challenge here as in any other field of photography.