affinity photo Clover Flower

[Smee Again]

Final image of a clover flower

 

Original image (size reduced for forum)

 

Cropping, obviously (to my taste).

Duplicated original image, cut out flower. On this layer I used "levels" adjustment to boost the black on flower. Next I used "shadows and highlights" adjustment layer to add some contrast. Finally used the "shadows and highlights" live filter to make final adjustments.

On background, simple "curves" adjustment layer.

[Smee Again]

On 4/26/2021 at 10:30 AM, GDPR-751748 said:

@Smee Again nice picture of a popular flower, and I see that you still have the motivation to post here despite the lack of order/organization in this "SyW" sub-forum.
Have you tried increasing the contrast a bit?

Patrick

Thank you Patrick. Will try a bit more contrast perhaps the next time my brain is clear enough to do this. My pain meds and chemo really mess with my thinking some days.

Between you and I, I just post photos here to mess with the folks who believe that only "drawings" are art. Capturing images of all creation or creating a unique image are all art in my book. Some of us are just not as good at it as we wold like to be.

Drawing and painting are both fun. I was first published in "Design" magazine (international artist magazine from the 1970's) while a sophomore in high school. The following year as a junior, I was commissioned by the state I lived in to do the cover for their "Index to Music Teachers". In various jobs and at educational institutions I have created line drawings for technical illustrations used in their text books.

I see art as being a lot of different things, but mostly I see it as huge a challenge once you begin to lose vision quality. Diabetes destroys your eyesight. While I don't consider myself an "artist" with the camera, I do enjoy it more than painting or sketching today. Gives me a chuckle when someone here looks at a photograph (mine or someone else's) but doesn't consider it "art" because it wasn't "drawn" in a vector art program. 

Be well. Hope to see more of your images in the future as I always enjoyed them.

[Smee Again]

30 minutes ago, PatrickM said:

@Smee AgainThank you but I got tired of posting screenshots over the years. When I left this forum a few months ago, I didn't expect that I wouldn't be able to use the latest beta and I re-registered only to report the issues. However, if you allow me, I could give you my vision of your picture. Beware of covid and stay safe.

Patrick

Go for it! Just don't let all "the eyes staring back at you" from the clover be a distraction.

Looks like there's a crop of green Peeps growing in there.

[Smee Again]

I like it. Does make the flower the star of the image. Most of the time I post images to the web they go to my 500px account like this one:

I will get several requests wanting to know how I accomplished the image and then they think I'm holding back on the facts. The image above is straight out of camera but resized for forum. As my late friend Don used to tell me all the time, "Even a blind pig finds an acorn now and then." It was simply, right place and right time combined with my camera accidentally doing what it was supposed to. Shot with Nikon L340 which is totally auto except that you can choose the ISO.

Early Sunday morning, bright sunlight hitting this honeysuckle bud on the end of the bush while the rest was in shadow. Also, it was processed with another photo editor which is why I never posted it here.

Love Macro photography regardless of who does it. Not preaching, but I see God's hand in the tiniest details of the things around us in nature.

BTW, it isn't spamming. Love to look at your works.

[jmwellborn]

I for one would wish that you would continue to post your beautiful images.  They always brightened even the worst cold, rainy day!

[Smee Again]

On 4/27/2021 at 3:04 PM, jmwellborn said:

I for one would wish that you would continue to post your beautiful images.  They always brightened even the worst cold, rainy day!

Very well said! Wholeheartedly agree.

[Smee Again]

Got our for a few minutes today to do some macro shots in our garden. Didn't see what was going on in this one until I pulled it into Affinity.

 

I mean, I could see the fly and was trying to focus on it but didnt notice the spider.

[Smee Again]

Yes! Like the mixture of contrasting / complimentary colors. Tack sharp right where it needs to be. What method are you using to get the  separation from the background?

Again, like this image a lot. Thanks for sharing.

[Smee Again]

Less than 5mm at its widest. Apparently captures and digests small insects. Front view / top view.

 

Probably freaked out our new neighbor. (millennial)  I had to lie on the ground for both of these. Big, fat, old, balding man lying on the ground to take a picture of something she couldn't see.

 

[Smee Again]

I bought a set of Viltrox extension tubes at B&H for under $40.00 and they have really opened up the world of the tiny for me. These extension tubes allow through the lens metering and autofocus to still work. Comes with three tubes that can be used singly, or stacked.

I am most fond of  20m tube (used in above images) as it suits my subjects but there are also a 12mm and a 36mm tube. I use them with the 18-55 kit lens that came with my old Canon 300D years ago (still works even though the camera wore out years ago) on my newer Canon EOS T7. If I stack all three tubes, my UV filter gets in the way of focusing and I have to remove it to attempt the shot. Also, when you get that close, you lose all depth of field completely, and it is very difficult to light properly.

[Smee Again]

BTW, another option is to get an adapter that reverses your lens on the camera. It does a good job, although you lose autofocus and aperture management.

[Smee Again]

Actually, the amount of magnification is dependent on the focal length of the lens you use. Shorter focal length = less magnification. From what I hear, a "nifty fifty" is usually a pretty good choice.

When I did the reverse lens shots, once again, I liked to use my 18-55mm kit lens. Since I got the extension tubes though, I haven't used the other. I like the convenience of being able to have one hand free to manipulate the subject while the camera does all the calculations like focus and exposure.

[Smee Again]

On 4/30/2021 at 8:51 AM, GDPR-751748 said:

 I also prefer sometimes to rely on the autofocus of my camera even if I often focus manually.

I only had the one lens when I tried the reversed lens, so I was going on what someone had told me when I was part of the photogenius group on Facebook. Should have tried it with some of the old glass I still have from film days and I would have known.

Yep, I rely on autofocus because for me it is becoming more of a challenge to do manual focus. I stopped using my 300d when the diopter would no longer compensate for my eyesight (autofocus broke a long time ago). My T7 will allow me to manually focus by using the monitor, and can even zoom in to check the focus. This allows me to wear my glasses and accurately focus, but it doesn't provide a third hand for manipulating the camera 😒. Really only helps with a tripod, and I prefer hand held shots.

 

[Smee Again]

I found this inside a 30" piece of PVC pipe. It was about 12" in, and my 18-55 kit lense was too short, while my 70-300 lens was too long even though it doubles as a macro lens.

Fortunately no more residents, except for the one who didn't make it. Guess he was a dud.

[Smee Again]

Not sure what this is, but it appears that at maturity it would be a ready made small bouquet of yellow flowers.

 

[Smee Again]

I think clover flowers are so pretty, and here is what I'm talking about. This image was taken this afternoon with my Canon T7 with a Quantaray 70-300mm macro lens (hand held). Oh, and a honeybee made a surprise appearance.

 

I made a duplicate of the original image. The top image saw the selection of the clover and bee. After cleaning up the selection, I used "selective color" to remove some of the yellow from the flower. Then I used the "clarity" and "high-pass" filters to sharpen it just a bit. Then I reduced the exposure slightly on the bottom layer.

Of course, I then resized to 2400 X 1600 for the forum.

[Smee Again]

A little more macro with an attempt at proper color grading. Probably should have dodged the center of the flower, but when I tried it looked unnatural. Like images in 2:1 format sometimes.

 

 

[Courtney Hunt]

Hey! It's an amazing picture of clover flower. Which camera, lens and flash you used to take this shot. I am learning photography. And want to buy a new lens, filter and Speedlight for macro photography or close photography. Any suggestion? 

[Smee Again]

15 hours ago, Courtney Hunt said:

Which camera, lens and flash you used to take this shot. I am learning photography. And want to buy a new lens, filter and Speedlight for macro photography or close photography. Any suggestion? 

Canon T7

Quantaray 70-300mm zoom / macro

NO flash or speedlight.

"Spray and pray" is the common expression for using continuous shooting -- probably total of 80 shots for less than 10 keepers.

I try to make sure that I do not interfere with natural behavior of subject, that is the reason for the long lens.

Processed with Affity Photo by duplicating image, cutting out bee and clover then lowering exposure of bottom image to draw the eye to flower.

[Courtney Hunt]

8 hours ago, Smee Again said:

Canon T7

Quantaray 70-300mm zoom / macro

NO flash or speedlight.

"Spray and pray" is the common expression for using continuous shooting -- probably total of 80 shots for less than 10 keepers.

I try to make sure that I do not interfere with natural behavior of subject, that is the reason for the long lens.

Processed with Affity Photo by duplicating image, cutting out bee and clover then lowering exposure of bottom image to draw the eye to flower.

Thank for the suggestion. I have Tamron 150 600 zoom lens and now I am defiantly buing Quantaray 70-300mm.

[Smee Again]

4 hours ago, Courtney Hunt said:

Thank for the suggestion. I have Tamron 150 600 zoom lens and now I am defiantly buing Quantaray 70-300mm.

My Quantaray lens appears as a Tamron lens in exif data when I am getting exposure data for a group I belong to. You might enjoy the monthly challenges.. it is the photogenius Brisbane group.

 

[Smee Again]

A couple of shots I took Friday, but almost didn't get to post.

Oh the things they don't tell you before starting chemo! The latest drug they popped in my port comes from the Chinese "Happy Tree" . . . almost killed me while being infused! After a couple days in ICU I'm home now for a while (I hope).

Really liked this Iris and the out of focus objects in front of it lent a little interest to me. The definition of the "veins" in the petals is something I liked as well.

 

This little Nasturtium was neat. Looks like they're having a party inside. Started to animate it with flashing lights, but don't have the time right now.

 

[Smee Again]

My wife loves growing English peas in our garden. Unfortunately, she doesn't grow enough to serve with a meal. Instead, she sees them as a snack to enjoy as she's working in the garden.

As for the picture, sometimes the light is just right . . .

[Smee Again]

Thank you, but clueless me was just in the right place at the right time. Had some chromatic aberration from my lens to fix (cloned it out). Other than cleaning that up and accenting the cyan and yellow, the image is straight out of camera.

[Smee Again]

A visitor to our garden. Hope it decides to stay . . .