The main subjects of my photography are aspects of plants, particularly flowers. It has to be beautiful not only artfully, not scientifically as well. This helps if you have to go back and reference the photo for specific reasons such as plant ID.
The glamor shot above was low tech. All I used was printer paper and my smartphone camera.
Very nice! The first photo!
Thanks for joining!
Very beautiful and interesting plant as well. Lovely colours!
Product phorography like this can be very diffucult. You need get a calm background and good lighting to make your subject stand out. You did very well with a simple sheet of paper.
It shows you don't always need expensive equipment.
My tips:
The pot is very close to the edge of the photo. I would give it just a bit extra space around.
The sharpness of the photo is onnthe middle part of the plant. If you have advanced options on your phone camera, you could change the aperture. If you cannot adjust the aperture, I would set the focus on the colorful parts of the plants which are the most interesting.
https://photographylife.com/what-is-aperture-in-photography#how-aperture-affects-exposure
Thank you! I appreciate your thoughtful response.
Yes, the color in this special type of bromeliad is important. They "blush" just before and throughout the flowering stage but this individual was bred to turn bright neon pink instead of the usual darker shades of red.
And the "pot" is just a hollow beef bone (with no substrate inside)!
Sometimes I do think about some of thet things you mentioned. Like how the paper simultaneously calms the background while helping the light situation. It works as my background while also my spotlight with the funny backwards white umbrella.
The sharpness on the other hand is a more complex issue to tackle that won't simply be tamed by a coverall method like before. It's hard for me because a cluster of plantlets like this has no obvious center and the main focus is never in the center but also the object itself is somewhat flowing in the way it coveys movement
So all in all much to consider in a few moments (before the shot)!
Also it has minimal post-editing aside from cropping out the chaotic background. In general, if I'm forced to edit beyond this then I'm using tweaking only brightness by a bit.
You're welcome.
Sharpness is difficult indeed. Especially with smartphone photography.
Sometimes smartphone camera apps have a 'landscape' photography setting that will try to give the photo as much sharpness as possible.
Ah, a one-stop solution! I like it!
How does a wide angle lens come into play on the subject of sharpness? (If at all)
If it's completely different you don't have to explain haha
I don't know exactly how it works for wide angle lenses, but in general a higher aperture value (F) of your lens will result in more shapness.
That is a very nice flowering plant. Lovely colours.
My tip for this picture is the composition. The flowers look like they are pointing out of the picture. If that makes sense.
I see a lot of pot, roots and greens. Try to focus on the flowers instead of the whole pot. Put the flowers in the center if your frame or leave a bigger space free on the left side so that they get a bit more room in this picture.
Ah yes this ties in a bit with what Bullwinkle was telling me.
I should focus on the colorful part!
But then some of my handicaps also create the apparent problems with centering, focus, and sharpness.
Probably me trying the squeeze the subject in front of just a small piece of white paper.
You can zoom out and imagine more white background but in reality no
That's why the "pot" is close the edge or the whole plant is off center
That's the edge of the sheet of paper
That you for your insight!
Now I will invest in a big white poster board!