Depth of field and PP Practise

I saw someone else's shots of some toadstools and as we had some in the back garden wanted to have a go myself. But wouldn't you know it they have shrivelled up! Still not to be deterred I decided to try the ones in the front garden. So braving comments from passing car drivers (That's one hell of a speed camera you've got there luv!) and strange looks from people walking by, I sprawl out on the grass to take a few shots. So now the whole of my street know I am a complete looney

I have sharpened and removed noise from both but got corel to adjust the colours on the other. Please excuse any camera shake but its difficult to set up a tripod at ground level on an uphill slope

I would be interested in which if any you prefer. I am not even sure is they make good pictures

To me, the first is too dark - although I like the composition (and depth of field is good!). The second one is the right kind of exposure, but the colours of the toadstools could maybe be a little more vibrant?

A bit small Jeanette but they look like great shots. Maybe no. 2 is a bit too bright... maybe somewhere in between the two:

Yes sorry about the size. I didn't want to put the really big pictures on for some reason so tried to use the medium size in Photobucket not sure what went wrong. I am glad you like the first one that is the one I think the colours are better on and I like the light. I will have a go at adjusting the curves. Not sure if I can change the colour just on the toadstools but I'll have a go and post a bigger version. I need to get the hang of these!

I know you wanted it lighter but I have had another go and I like the greens in this one.

Hi Pentaxbabe,

I thought the first one looked ok, kind of like an early morning sunrise shot, second one looks a bit over exposed on the mushroom tops and the third one looks too green to me.

Good composition though

Regards
PaulM

Hi,

I think the reposted one (larger) is about there, WB and colour wise. If they're still there, I'd suggest moving a couple of degrees to your left to compose for another shot, just so that the two heads on the right don't look to grow from the same stalk. It tends to show a bold line in the frame of the two stalks, rather than as a separation of two different ones. It might be useful also to have a pair of scissors to just trim the grasses in front, and between the two main groups, just to highlight the mushrooms as standing out from the background.

Very nice all the same..

HTH

Cheers

Liam

Thanks Liam and PaulM,
I am afraid tey will have to wait now till Saturday. I am on antiviral distribution dties with theHS until 8pm tomorrow now, which is probably why I can't sleep

Have had another go, but probably still to green. I am struggling to adjust it without losing the light on the toadstools which I think looks god. Actually, I don't think they will be there Saturday as I bet the grass gets cut tomorrow But I am sure there will be mre to practise on soon and I will remember the scissors

Three suggestions:

1) people don't hang around asking questions when I'm out there shooting...in the nude...your milage may vary...
2) Greycard... set your exposure and color manually, and tweak from there....
3) beanbag.... litterally, grab a bag of dried beans or rice, from the kitchen, and don't fret the tripod.

Don,

1) That is one picture I don't want to imagine - sorry
2) I do the exposure manually. Not sure how you set the colour unless you mean white balance?
3) Never thought of that one

Ta

Jeanette

Hi Jeanette

To obviate the need to lay down embarrassingly on the lawn to take fungi, invest in a right angle finder. The Seagull one is perfectly adequate and is available from HK for around £30 including shipping - look on EBay. They sell at around £90 in the UK!

You also want a tripod that will spreadeagle its legs to near ground level!

Depth of field with fungi is always a problem. It may help to take the shot from slightly further away. This will give greater depth of field and you can then crop - but not too much though with 15 MP on your 20D you should be OK.

John