More photographs. Some leave me a bit puzzled, but that's creativity, I suppose. I'll just take three for the moment. Karen Powell - Blueberries I like the composition. It sort of seems to be really easy to point a camera at a plant, yet sort of afterwards I always wish I'd done it differently, or noticed this or that. This has a nice unforced feeling to it - just the berries as they are. I'm not sure about the blurred leaves in the lower left - are they out-of-focus, or could this be motion blur? I'd rather prefer them either sharper, or totally blurred. Someone said: > Might be possible to get a little more detail in the berries. Problem in part is the jpeg compression. You've only used 33K of your allotted 53 [hee!], and the extra 20K might well make just the right difference. It takes time, but it's well worth learning how to jiggle with the jpeg adjustments. (Bob Talbot is the master of the 49.999K image) I am no expert, but here are my suggestions for things to do: (1) Did you use a tripod? Your eye and your tripod are (I think) more critical than your lens. (2) Read John Shaw's "Closeups in Nature". You can read a bit about it on my web page, and for maximum effect you should purchase it by clicking the Amazon.com link, and then I'll get 5% commission. http://imaginatorium.org/books/photech.htm#shaw Now at the same time, you should also order some other books http://imaginatorium.org/books/topten.htm because I will get more commissions at 5% from amazon, but also because when the Shaw book arrives you will look at it for a bit, then feel unwell. This will last for a period of a week or two, during which time you will also be unable to look at your camera without feeling miserable. But fortunately, you will have the other books to read. One way to alleviate the dejection might be to look at the original version of my first flower page: http://imaginatorium.org/sano/higanb0.htm This should make you feel better immediately. But after that I think it's just practice. And looking at other images, among which: > Roderick Chen - Red This is exquisite. Just two tomatoes in a bowl. And do you know what is *really* unfair? This image is only 11K, yet visually it's jpeg-perfect. > Christiane Roh - Bourgogne, May 2002 "Shot with a Contax G2." Nicely done, Christiane. It seems slightly odd to tell us the camera without mentioning the lens; and this kind of shot is one where (afaics) an SLR offers only advantages over a rangefinder. I'm not quite sure about the way the flower behind has had its top chopped off, yet somehow you've captured the iricity* very well. * Don't ask. No, it isn't a word. "Iris". What about "Bourgogne"? The region of France - not so far from where you live - or is it also a reference to the colour or the flower? Anyway, for those who like that sort of thing, Roderick definitely gets my "pic of the week". Brian Chandler ---------------- geo://Sano.Japan.Planet_3 http://imaginatorium.org/
