Margaret West
October 2025 - Beauty in my Garden
About the Image(s)
I took this with my 100 mm macro lens. I decided to try the auto bracketing in the camera (Canon RF Mark II), set it to the smallest division and max of 100 photos, and it actually took 100 photos which surprised me (it will stop when it thinks it has covered the area). f9, 1/80 second. Set the initial focus on the closest petal. There is a little softness in the back petals, but that is OK . I stacked it in Helicon focus, did some minor adjustments in LR, took out a few minor spots on the leaves in PS , then used some tonal contrast in NIK Color Effex. It is out of my garden. I was struck by how nearly perfect it was (the other roses certainly were not!)
7 comments posted
Yes, it's a lovely picture of a beautiful flower.
The stacking has worked very well, although I'm surprised that there's softness at the back given it has taken a bracket of 100 images. I presume you can alter the step length in your camera? I can in my Olympus, and if it gets to "infinity" then it stops taking pictures, which makes sense. I guess the Canon must be similar, and it hasn't reached infinity, so you've got all 100 requested frames. Posted: 10/08/2025 09:12:10
The stacking has worked very well, although I'm surprised that there's softness at the back given it has taken a bracket of 100 images. I presume you can alter the step length in your camera? I can in my Olympus, and if it gets to "infinity" then it stops taking pictures, which makes sense. I guess the Canon must be similar, and it hasn't reached infinity, so you've got all 100 requested frames. Posted: 10/08/2025 09:12:10
I was surprised it took all 100 myself but am happy with the final result Posted: 10/12/2025 01:54:51
Lovely shot of a lovely flower and it's stamens. I tend to find that there is always some slight fault in flower images I take, and this one is just perfect! Posted: 10/09/2025 14:37:56
Thanks Mike! Posted: 10/12/2025 01:53:41
this is a really nice shot. pretty in pink. center is focused all petals are either in focus or soft just falling out of focus so whole shot works well. background is nice natural green. whether you could have gotten all petal edges in the shot is up for discussion. Posted: 10/11/2025 20:44:22
Thanks. Composition is always tough. Sometimes I crop a photo several years after taking it as I see it differently at a later date. This is not cropped much. I can check my files Posted: 10/12/2025 01:56:11
I feel like you have really captured the essence of this flower--nice sharp petals with the green in the background comfortably soft. It has depth and texture, making it come alive for me as a viewer. Beautiful capture; well done! Posted: 10/17/2025 04:33:25