A personal opinion - It could stand a higher F-Stop setting so as to get more, but not necessarily all, of the flowers in sharp focus and still with a blurry background. The shot is too sharp and the eye has trouble determining what is in focus and what is not. Adjust the F-Stop setting so that the subject is fully in focus but the background is still out of focus. You will be surprised at how much better these same flowers will look.
Another use of the F-Stop settings indoors and with less room light is to raise the F-Stop setting just high enough so that this room lighting is completely removed from the shots. This allows full control of the light on the subject using only your artificial flash lighting while still being able to see what you are doing with the room lighting left on during the shoot. You will then have full control of your photo lighting via the controls on your flashes. The F-Stop settings are kind-of a double edge sword. Keeping it low produces very sharp and shallow depth of focus. Too high of a setting produces shots where everything is in focus. So some great shots are possible if the F-Stop setting is right for the shot desired. I usually begin each soot with an F-Stop setting of F-8. If you need it lower than that for a shorter depth of focus and you wish to keep the room lighting out of the shot you need to block the room lighting from the shot to achieve the shorter depths of focus. For this you will then need to turn the room lighting off for the shot and then back on quickly for safety after the shot. Since I'm almost always working alone, having an assistant to switch the lights off, and then back on is not workable for me. So in my studio I have wireless control of the room lighting with wireless control switches attached to each camera stand. This makes it easy to use lower F-Stop settings when I need to, with the studio dark and then quickly turn the room lighting back on for safety. Moving around in a dark room is dangerous, and this remote control for the room lighting keeps my studio safer, as there is no need to move around the dark studio for me to reach the light switch. The wireless control hardware for my room lighting setup came from Amazon.
I can also control all of my photography lighting, for video, still, black light and special focused spot lights, each wirelessly from each camera position, selecting and powering each kind of lighting on and off from the camera positions. The only cable that must be used is my tether cable, but it hangs down from above with sufficient extra loop to allow free movement of the camera within the camera shooting area of my studio and without it becoming a trip hazard on the floor. Studio strobes, even if on light stands, are powered from ceiling power outlets above on the ceiling, so no cables on the floor for them either. Most of my video lighting is attached to a DIY ceiling lighting support grid made from steel angle material. These lights are also powered on and off with wireless control from the camera stand locations, so no light stands are needed for them. In fact, the Video lighting remains set up above, attached to the lighting support grid when doing any other type of photography below. So when I set up for portrait, still life, or product shooting below, the video lights can remain above on the ceiling and out of the way. I have it all set up so this one studio that can be quickly changed from one type of photography to another relatively quickly, and with a minimum of trip hazards from cabling and light stand legs, so it's a much safer environment for both me and others who may visit the studio. I can't imagine having ten tightly spaced LED light panels for my video work on light stands on the floor with the power cabling for them on the floor too. It would be a nearly impossible and unsafe environment to work in.
My crepe myrtles have been in full bloom also Bob! I have 2 deep reds and a pink. The reds show their "inards" more sharply.
The yellows are wonderful!
Dan
CharleyL wrote:
A personal opinion - It could stand a higher F-Stop setting so as to get more, but not necessarily all, of the flowers in sharp focus and still with a blurry background. The shot is too sharp and the eye has trouble determining what is in focus and what is not. Adjust the F-Stop setting so that the subject is fully in focus but the background is still out of focus. You will be surprised at how much better these same flowers will look.
Another use of the F-Stop settings indoors and with less room light is to raise the F-Stop setting just high enough so that this room lighting is completely removed from the shots. This allows full control of the light on the subject using only your artificial flash lighting while still being able to see what you are doing with the room lighting left on during the shoot. You will then have full control of your photo lighting via the controls on your flashes. The F-Stop settings are kind-of a double edge sword. Keeping it low produces very sharp and shallow depth of focus. Too high of a setting produces shots where everything is in focus. So some great shots are possible if the F-Stop setting is right for the shot desired. I usually begin each soot with an F-Stop setting of F-8. If you need it lower than that for a shorter depth of focus and you wish to keep the room lighting out of the shot you need to block the room lighting from the shot to achieve the shorter depths of focus. For this you will then need to turn the room lighting off for the shot and then back on quickly for safety after the shot. Since I'm almost always working alone, having an assistant to switch the lights off, and then back on is not workable for me. So in my studio I have wireless control of the room lighting with wireless control switches attached to each camera stand. This makes it easy to use lower F-Stop settings when I need to, with the studio dark and then quickly turn the room lighting back on for safety. Moving around in a dark room is dangerous, and this remote control for the room lighting keeps my studio safer, as there is no need to move around the dark studio for me to reach the light switch. The wireless control hardware for my room lighting setup came from Amazon.
I can also control all of my photography lighting, for video, still, black light and special focused spot lights, each wirelessly from each camera position, selecting and powering each kind of lighting on and off from the camera positions. The only cable that must be used is my tether cable, but it hangs down from above with sufficient extra loop to allow free movement of the camera within the camera shooting area of my studio and without it becoming a trip hazard on the floor. Studio strobes, even if on light stands, are powered from ceiling power outlets above on the ceiling, so no cables on the floor for them either. Most of my video lighting is attached to a DIY ceiling lighting support grid made from steel angle material. These lights are also powered on and off with wireless control from the camera stand locations, so no light stands are needed for them. In fact, the Video lighting remains set up above, attached to the lighting support grid when doing any other type of photography below. So when I set up for portrait, still life, or product shooting below, the video lights can remain above on the ceiling and out of the way. I have it all set up so this one studio that can be quickly changed from one type of photography to another relatively quickly, and with a minimum of trip hazards from cabling and light stand legs, so it's a much safer environment for both me and others who may visit the studio. I can't imagine having ten tightly spaced LED light panels for my video work on light stands on the floor with the power cabling for them on the floor too. It would be a nearly impossible and unsafe environment to work in.
This was shot outdoors with live blossoms on the tree.
I am just guessing but an extreme macro lens at f5.6 and 2.5 magnification is probably has an effective f stop around f50 to f100 - just a guess but although the lens says 5.6 the ffective f stop is much higher. At 2.5x the DOF is razor thin at 2.5x magnification.
Danpbphoto wrote:
My crepe myrtles have been in full bloom also Bob! I have 2 deep reds and a pink. The reds show their "inards" more sharply.
The yellows are wonderful!
Dan
