buttercup studies

The usual problem with any vivid, bright yellow flower is blowing the highlights
So I set out to avoid it and learned, in the process, what lovely flowers they are.
Suggestions for improvements will be most welcome because I haven't quite cracked it yet.






















All taken with a K5 and Macro Takumar 50mm

All of these show a slight lack in vitality and i think this is because you have gone a little too far in avoiding blowing out the yellows. Yellow is a brilliant, vital colour, not dull. It's a tricky thing to get right.

I would have liked to see more depth of field in the close ups, again not easy, but carefully focusing on the hyperfocal distance and using the smallest aperture possible should do the trick.

Hope that helps, because the basic idea is right and it just needs honing a little more.

Agree John,

Pulling down the highlights and boosting the shadows tends to be a starting point for many, but often the highlights do contribute to the image, even if they are blown out. A difference between a technical assessment and seeing the image as 'art' rather than numbers.

Boost the exposure on most of these and I'm sure there is greatness underneath

Edit, couldn't resist a play. (I hope no offence is taken).
Mate these photos are really good

No offence taken whatsoever - these are exactly the sort of constructive comments I was looking for.
I was thinking about my own comments in the last monthly competition and whether I could, indeed, live up to them ............. not quite!

Thank you both

Good to hear.

Tweak wise on mine I:
- Played with the shadows and restored some highlights.
- Masked out the flower and darkened the background content that was distracting me.
- Played with the brightness and contrast a bit.
- Added a little bit of sharpening because that front water drop caught my eye.
That's about it.

Nothing major, and was very quick.

The edited version is too far in the other direction. I appreciate you're limited with someone's JPEG, but this is too saturated and contrasty IMO.
The originals just lack sharpness and they are a little dark. Necessarily cautious as yellow blows-out very easily.

This is number 4, with increased brightness, decreased saturation, and a gentle vignette. I have also applied local contrast enhancement and a bit of sharpening to the flower, to help differentiate the structures and to bring out some detail. Is this any help?




Cheers.
Philip

Looks great

It certainly does - thank you!