Hi Len. I have been watching your posts with interest mate.
You are so enthusiastic and forward going you have given many of us a buzz mate. Its great to see so many new faces so keen.
A few things to note when doing close ups. None of these are set in cement and rules are often there to be broken. Our resident macro guruess Tawney may correct me on some of these but its all good buddy and she knows her stuff.
Close ups are often more appealing if there is a singular point of interest. Instead of a few flowers maybe close in on one and force the viewer to explore the detail you offer within the image.
Light is important in everything that we, as photographers, shoot. This is the same for close up and macro work. Light can give an image depth and definition. If you look at some of the flower shots from the more experienced macro shooters on phototopix you will see they are bright, detailed and almost 3d. This is mostly down to lighting and of course, decent focussing through a good lens. However with the use of photoshop there is no reason why a less expensive lens cannot yield similar results.
So to your shot. I have only droned on like this mate because you have asked for serious comment.
As a shot on its own it is not at all bad. It just does not make me look and then look again. The following remarks are from my personal taste and not how things should be.
I would have just shot the one head...either the bloom or the seeded head to simplify the image. When shooting flowers it can be handy to take a pocket mirror to throw some light to the darker areas (i.e the underside) of the plant/flower. This will 'lift' the image significantly mate and give some definition. Also i would probably gone through the aperture range so I made sure I had the best look for the finished shot regarding bokeh and depth of field. Shoot in RAW. If you have not yet learnt about RAW then use jpeg for now, its fine. Genese has done a RAW overview elsewhere on the site.
Pop it into p/shop and play and play and play! you can't do any damage so explore have fun and learn. Up the contrast a bit. Increase saturation a tad and already it will start to have impact and make the viewer look twice. Add a layer and darken it then mask it off and paint in the edges and this will lead the viewer into the sharpest part of your image. A tickle of unsharp mask and bang! you have an eyecatcher.
I love the hunger you have for this and its not a bad pic buddy don't get me wrong. Whenever I do any shots I think...right! lets make it better. Sometimes I do good and sometimes not so good. you are totally on the right road.
Any questions on photoshop, you'll find a wealth of more experienced users on here that I am sure won't mind a PM to help you at any stage...many are modest so push them!
Photo Phil. Eos1 NRS, Newbloke, Paul (God to his friends), Alistair, Genese and Davecam (yes you Dave) just to mention a few (there are more)...are all good post workers and i'm sure would help you if you asked. Again if I can help in any way just PM or post a query. There is bound to be someone here who knows.
Welcome aboard buddy. Have fun...learn. Hey! maybe i'll learn something along with you
TCO
One last thing.If you can then resize your image so it is 800 pixels on the longest edge. This way it will look a good size when posting and we can admire your hard work with a better eye.
Teesside, England
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