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Elissa McMeniman's picture

Hosta Curl

Would this be better if it were all in focus? I always lean towards an abstract-y look, with a lot of the flower/foliage out of focus. Wondering if it lends a depth and interest... or if it just looks out of focus. :-)

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13 Comments

I like what you have done. My eye is drawn to the sharp detail. If you cropped to keep just the crisp detail, the photo would be less interesting. The shallow depth of field works.

Thank you!

it depends if there is a spot you are trying to bring emphasis to then you should absolutely use a shallow DOF
in this shot i don't mind it but full focus might have been good as well and if you wanted to try a fade use lighting tricks to you could also get a beautiful result

Thank you!

Next time I should be more methodical about it and try different fstops.

its just a memory card not a roll of film fill that baby up i have even been excited in a shoot and i get home and im disappointed that i missed something just take as many shots as you canto get your desired results

I think the DOF is fine, but I find the details and leading lines to take me out of the picture instead of into it. Really neat details though. I see these all over the place but never thought about taking a picture of one. Good eye!

Thank you!

I think this is perfect. :)

thank you so much!

I think it's beautiful as is, Elissa! The composition is just right, with a flow and dynamism. I'm just not seeing the problem Shawn does, curiously

I think you're right, and Joseph has a point. Especially if I'd set up a tripod for this, I'd shoot every aperture from maximum to minimum, possibly vary the point of focus at wide apertures, and perhaps vary the exposure if the dynamic range is wide (i.e. your histogram is full from left to right). Delete, brutally if need be, later.

Thank you, Chris! I definitely need to slow down a bit when I shoot. I tend to shoot from the hip a bit. Sometimes I get lucky doing that, but if I took a bit more time I would be happier with my results.

All part of the learning process! :-)

My problem with it is that the point of maximal focus is almost out of the frame.

I kind of wish the little curl inside the big curl were sharper. Next time, I'm going to try to slow down and be more methodical, as Chris suggests above.