Rose blur
didn't have enough time to go somewhere far out of town and take pics of landscapes like i planned, so i decided to spend my time in the botanic gardens a...
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didn't have enough time to go somewhere far out of town and take pics of landscapes like i planned, so i decided to spend my time in the botanic gardens attempting some self-portraits.
Enjoy! :)
p.s i know this photo has very poor autofocus, i just gave up trying to do it manually.
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Enjoy! :)
p.s i know this photo has very poor autofocus, i just gave up trying to do it manually.
Read less
Feb, 2018Views
649
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Awards
Contest Finalist in The Colors Of Spring Photo Contest 2018
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1Categories
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken the rose Garden at the Botanic Gardens of my local city. The rose garden is one of my favorite as there are many different colours and wonderful smells!Time
It was getting quite dark already at just 8pm, almost summer. It didn't help that it got really cloudy in the evening as well, and the garden itself is surrounded by a tall hedge which provides a thick shade.Lighting
No lighting equipment was used, just the natural dim light of the evening.....which is not great. i didn't realise it would get so dark so early! and i couldn't go sooner as i had work. I think the best portraits are done in shade, as the sun won't reflect off the skin, especially fair skin like i have, however it was just too dark! so i thought it would be a great opportunity to try and shoot in not very well lit conditions.Equipment
My one and only 750D Canon, 18-55mm lens that came with the camera, tripod, as this is a self portrait so it's necessary to have one! Now I probably wouldn't have any problems with the lighting if my lens could go wider, but the maximum i could go was f/5.5. i didn't want to raise my ISO any higher as i was worried i would get noise, and i didn't want to compromise the shutter speed because of motion blur, and considering it's a self portrait and i'm NOT an experienced model at all, i found it hard to pose without moving too much. But now i realise, i should have lowered the shutter speed by just a bit and see what i could do....Inspiration
At the time of this photo shoot, i have had my camera for about 2 months, and i still haven't had a chance to visit the gardens that year! i thought it would be a great opportunity for me to learn more about portraits as well as enjoy the botanic gardens. I didn't go with a goal or idea in mind, but when i arrived and walked into the rose garden, i just started looking around and brainstorming ideas for pics! (all the tourists thought i was crazy) But for this specific photo, i wanted to get a nice composition between myself and the flowers on the foreground, as well as create a little contrast... the background is really dark, so the only things visible is me and the flowers. without the flowers the image would be dull and dark, but the orange blurs add a tint of lively contrast! It took me about 7 shots to get this shot. however, i have another image where i like the composition more, but it's not sharp, so i went with this one.Editing
I shoot in JPEG, and i know it limits editing opportunities, but for me all i need is the basics...for now. Cropped image to get better composition, lightened image in Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 (it's old but works).In my camera bag
Camera (obviously), i have a 750d Canon. Absolutely a tripod, you never know when you will need it, cable release (just in case i want to do a long exposure longer than 30 seconds, but usually that's if i'm going to the city or scenic locations). If i'm shooting during the day i will take a 10 stop ND filter. Oh, and a very small but important gadget, a micro-fiber cloth! you don't want your lens sweating and ruining all your amazing photos.Feedback
Plan ahead! I don't work often with other people, so it's pretty easy when i'm both the model and photography as i know what i need... but if you're shooting with other people, communicate, figure out what they want, what you want and combine ideas! Experiment! I wasn't patient enough to try a few more shots with SLIGHTLY different settings, and now i regret it. a slight change can make a huge difference. In portraits the subject is the person. You may have everything right, but the pose might ruin everything. of course it's mainly a personal preference but encourage your models to change poses and see what looks better. Every person has unflattering angles, but also everyone has flattering angles, try your best to find the latter :)
