[SI] Closeup/macro comments

Tim Conway
Ouzo http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651880
Nothing special to say about this. It's not all that sharp and appears
underexposed. The lighting is uneven and presents highlight issues in
the label too. and perspective distortion adds to the distracting
aspect. Nice colour in that label.

Strwberries http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651885
Again, not sharp (at all) and slightly underexposed. Presentation is
ordinary. Stacking the berries may have helped as would a light drizzle
of balsamic and sprinkle of black pepper. Hmmmmm. The upper right of
the image is distracting as well. In a closeup such as this either all
'exterior' should be eliminated or it should be used to frame the plate.
No hard rule there, but that triangle is a distraction.

Cookies: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651887
Worst of the set. Poor exposure. (Or is your PC screen too bright?).

Duck
MG http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651891
The 'duck's fondness for old cars shows again in this wonderful closeup.
I love the blues from sky to ink. The highlight at 10:30 in the badge
is a bit unfortunate as are the wax deposits or scratches. The uneven
reds in the badge are a drag too.

Dodge Brothers: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651894
Nice shot, I esp. like the 'squiggle' at the top right. This badge
prompted me to look if the Dodge brothers were Jewish or Mormon - but I
couldn't find such a link. They just like the "Star of David" form, I
guess. (One triangle per brother, perhaps?). Only the lower right of
this image is a bit of a downer.

Buick http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651898
Less impassive than the prior two for lack of colour but a nice detail
capture in any case. Uneven lighting and focus plane don't help in this
flat part capture.

RichardAnderson
Fungi: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651823
A nice colour palette but otherwise no 'direction' to it. Something may
have been done to use the differing 'cell' sizes to enhance the
composition. Given that the fungi (necessary to decay) and the
gravestone have a thematic relationship, maybe that could have been
woven into the image - but maybe not as a closeup.

Bowser
Dandelion http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651927
Such shots always seem to have a magic to them when well done. Here
more highlights through backlighting could have made for a stunning
shot. As is the delicate lines in the flower are well shown. A tighter
crop may have been better, eliminating most of the dark area to the
lower right.

Rust http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651930
One of my favourites of the bunch for meeting the mandate and
presenting an abstract image. I can imagine it as a river draining into
a lake or sea seen from high up - clouds over the lake. The only very
small thing I don't like is the dark edge to the left.

Helmet http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651934
Nice detail capture but otherwise leaves my boat on the bottom.

Sid
Brakes http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651911
Similar to 'rust' from Bowser in making an abstract. I like the front
framing of the detailed area by the OOF part in the front, The
juxtaposition of the vents in the OOF-FG and the in focus area is great.
Maybe the OOF FG frame takes a little too much of the image area. The
tonal range is nice but I'd like to see this with a higher contrast.

Yellow Stamens http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651914
Good effort but there's a lack of focus. The stamens should really grab
and hold one's attention. DOF issues here are impossible to solve - one
would want all of the stamen's in sharp focus and the petals softly
de-focused but near impossible to get both in this case (stamens take
too much depth). Given that, this shot would probably been better with
much more (or) much less DOF. As is a bit lost. I also like the
brilliantly lit stamens against the shaded petal.

Daisy http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651916
Good effort, but not critically sharp as the image was surely intended.
Just enough blowout of the highlights to maintain the whites w/o going
over. Detail in the centre seems slightly blurry. The blade of grass
shining at 1 O'Clock is distracting.

Frank Ess
Bee and ant http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651852
Unfortunately the dominant subject is way OOF which distracts from the
image terribly. In fact I think the hose joint without the insects
could have made a better image due to the opposing diagonals and
restrained, similar and complimentary colours (hose, metal, corrosion, bg).

Sunglass detail http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651859
Almost looking like a musical instrument, this detail has great colours
and interesting symmetry. The noise in the dark areas is a bit off
putting. The speckling in the dark areas also distracts. Great effort
but I'd guess offhand it needed a more controlled lighting environment
to really pull off.

Iron nipples http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651863
I really have no idea what this is but perhaps something in the
bathroom. Erie and mysterious. A little too soft focused. If
sharpened up could be a wall hanger. The green tone is a little echy.

Dan Petre
Big Red http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651846
One of my favourites of the bunch. The tight focused, close up wide
angle shot coupled to the oof textures of the road surface give this
image a lot of motion around the vehicle. The composition would have
been improved if the roofline of the car was contained within the
asphalt 'frame'. The 'imperfect' car model and the splashes of lights
in the on-sea BG makes it really work.

Bob Flint
Apetizers http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651901
As I've mentioned from time to time I like restrained colour palettes
and this one with the natural browns, creams and green is pretty good in
that respect. Composition is not all that studied (you could have
picked one away for the desirable "threes" composition). Detail is
pretty good. The white spot at the bottom's a bit of a distraction. A
macro (true) of these in the right light would be nice too.

Dendelion http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651904
Nice. Detail seems a bit off (wrong focus point?). BG is just right -
a few stems to give depth, OOF, no distraction.

White flowers http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651908
Nice framing of the bg flowers with the FG. I would have cropped the
bottom green area out as well as the edge of the back right group of
flowers. Exposure may be a tad too high. Contrast could have been a
little higher to bring out more punch in the back group.

Andrew Reiley
Pine http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651809
Can't say this qualifies as a closeup - though I get it - you were close
to the tree. Composition works better if you crop off the left and the
bottom by about 20% each.

Fence http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651816
Would work if the tendril were in really sharp focus and more contrasty.
Had you exposed this less, there would have been more saturation in
the tendril and less harsh white from the fence. A 'shallower' approach
to the fence would have helped too, I think by really focusing attention
on the tendrils. Good idea - just needs more execution work. The
shadow area to the lower right should have been avoided or cropped out.

Tendril http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651820
Would have worked without the busy background. The oblique perspective
of the prior image was a better approach to the subject.

MG
Azalea http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651866
This would have needed tighter cropping and flatter lighting. Flowers
are difficult to do in open light, worse in mixed (at least for close ups).

CraneFlower http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651872
Uneven focus, downward composition and hard contrast to BG take away
from this image. Diagonals work.

Ladybugs http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651876
Good idea for a closeup with a repetitive pattern. Works. But, the
bark to the lower right is distracting and the image is over exposed
(you could have cheated a lot in post to increase saturation and
contrast). A bit soft (motion blur?) too.

Chemiker
Butterfly http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651842
Spectacular specimen. It looks to me like flash was used, not sure.
Detail is a bit washed and contrast too low. (slightly over exposed?).

Jewel box http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651839
A forced composition that doesn't work. The columns look silly - and
this is enhanced by the 'shoot down' composition. The shoot-down works
for the box but makes the columns look horrible. The colours of the box
are great and are complemented by the stones.

Martha Coe
Spanish Bluebells http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651828
Too grabby. Not only not closeup, but for flowers a close up is a
necessity. Green stems and leaves are pretty boring unless they have a
particular geometric aspect - these don't. OOF, not saturated.

Rhododendron Blossoms http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651832
Not tightly enough shot (crop closer) and oof. Colours are very nice
but maybe could be more saturated and contrasty. The "unbloomed"
flowers in the centre are distracting.

Rhododendron Blossoms http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651837
Nice composition but should have been more tightly cropped.

Peter Newman
Dahlia http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651937
Brilliant, saturated colours. A little soft or blurred. Red frame is
crappy looking. BG exclusion works well.

Orchid http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651945
Great colour and detail in the "throat". Black areas are distracting.
Speckled look is a bit off putting.

Dahlia http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143671026
Great colour, contrast and saturation. A bit blurry looking. Nice
isolation.

Alan Browne
Time http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143652461
As time was running out on this round I grabbed this shot. In post I
increased the blackpoint to hide some internal reflections (internal in
the clock) and that's about it.

Orb weaver http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143652460
I was photographing some mushrooms (my SO's recently blooming passion -
if I die of poisoning please tell the police about her) and I felt
something in my hair. I brushed it off and it climbed back to the
ceiling. Not cooperative in the least I couldn't get a head on shot.
Hand held, getting focus just right was tough. I took about 15 shots of
the little *******. (This was the 3rd). Even at 1:1, this shot is a
50% (±) crop making the little beast about half an inch long (body).
Light is flash pointed at the ceiling and bouncing down to good effect.

Mushroom http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143652459
This is a mushroom of some sort that grows on decaying trees. This one
died last fall and my SO picked it up this spring from the nearby wood.
Like many tree mushrooms this one was variously eaten by insects and
slugs which is what left the lines and marks behind. Like all dying
things, this one has another fungus or mould growing on it (green).
Ceiling bounced flash.

Tony Cooper
Lizard http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143671023
Nice grab but the image quality is a bit coarse. I like the Orange (too
saturated?) and green. The stone (?) seems over exposed. Crop
selection is very good though perhaps a bit of the right edge and bottom
could be lopped off.

Frog http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143671024
My favourite of the bunch this round because of the colour, detail,
pattern and isolation. I would only crop the image a little more tightly.

Rose in bloom http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143671025
Classic looking rose shot. Great colour and saturation. Nice contrast
and detail. Perhaps a tighter crop - but hard with that leaf to the
right which fits right in and opposed to the bunch at 7:30. My
favourite of the flower shots in this round.

Bret Douglas
Blue flower http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143693707

Very nice shot with some comic overtones. Nice saturation. The
highlight in the base is a little off putting. The leaf, lower left,
should have been 'shopped out.

Red flower and ant http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143693708
Somehow 2001-ish with the ant inside HAL's memory bay about to shut him
down. Great colour palette and composition. The opposition of the ant
to the drop of water is interesting. Stranger in a strange land to
finish the Sci-Fi allusions.

Ant-pigs http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143693709
Very nice shot - could be out of Nat (or Ant) Geo. Bokeh is a little
bit distracting. Again, the narrow colour palette helps make the shot.
Great detail and patterns.

--
"Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities."
-Samuel Clemens.

On 2012-06-02 15:18 , tony cooper wrote:
On Sat, 02 Jun 2012 14:54:41 -0400, Alan Browne
wrote:

Dodge Brothers: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651894
Nice shot, I esp. like the 'squiggle' at the top right. This badge
prompted me to look if the Dodge brothers were Jewish or Mormon - but I
couldn't find such a link. They just like the "Star of David" form, I
guess. (One triangle per brother, perhaps?). Only the lower right of
this image is a bit of a downer.

I was intrigued by this because I see it as a Star of David and it
doesn't make sense to me for an automaker to attempt to appeal to any
particular religious group. Besides, all the Jewish doctors drove
Packards when I was growing up.

This site offers some possibilities:

http://www.allpar.com/cars/dodge/dodge-logos.php where it says:

The Dodge Brothers Club's FAQ states that the symbol was not chosen to
anger Henry Ford, and goes on to say that "At the time the emblem was
selected (most likely 1912-1914) it's likely that the Dodge brothers
were unaware of its use in Judiasm. In fact, at this time, that symbol
was not used universally in this context." It suggests these
possibilities, among others:

1. These are two interlocking Greek letter "deltas" or "Ds" for the
two Dodge brothers

2. A medieval symbol of mysticism and the joining of mind and body; in
this case representing the joining of two brothers, who were very
close, in this business venture (allegedly, letters addressed to just
one of them would be discarded).

3. An abstraction of the square and compass of the Freemasons (this
seems unlikely as well).

4. Nothing more or less than a badge with six pointed star similar to
those used for law-enforcement officer's badges, some outlined with
triangles. Sheriff, Marshall, and police badges frequently wore six
pointed stars. The old-west Dodge City badge had six points. Horace
Dodge was said to enjoy accompanying local law-enforcement officers on
their runs.

The Dodge Brothers Club News editor wrote that "emblem is also a
"Solomon’s Seal" sign of interconnected spirits, as the brothers
were."

As I said above, it seems to be one triangle per brother and as your
last para says "interconnected spirits".

Looking at the "DB" in the emblem the letters are similarly linked in
over/under fashion though the symmetry is broken as it's an uneven
number of crossings.

--
"Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities."
-Samuel Clemens.

On 2012-06-02 11:54:41 -0700, Alan Browne
said:

Duck
MG http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651891
The 'duck's fondness for old cars shows again in this wonderful closeup.
I love the blues from sky to ink. The highlight at 10:30 in the badge
is a bit unfortunate as are the wax deposits or scratches. The uneven
reds in the badge are a drag too.

I was a bit disappointed with the poor detailing and failure to clean
up the wax, but it is a driver, so I guess some slack can be cut.
Regarding the reds, there is some sort of 1949 British prismatic effect
in the emblem, so...


Dodge Brothers: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651894
Nice shot, I esp. like the 'squiggle' at the top right. This badge
prompted me to look if the Dodge brothers were Jewish or Mormon - but I
couldn't find such a link. They just like the "Star of David" form, I
guess. (One triangle per brother, perhaps?). Only the lower right of
this image is a bit of a downer.

I don't think the Dodge brothers were particularly religious or
refined. I believe the "Star" was two interwound Deltas representing
the two "D" brothers.
The "squiggle" is the reflection of the stylized radiator cap.
http://db.tt/R8fGpjQt


Buick http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651898
Less impassive than the prior two for lack of colour but a nice detail
capture in any case. Uneven lighting and focus plane don't help in this
flat part capture.

Hey! It is tough for an old fart to squat down in front of an old car
and keep thing aligned and steady.
As for the lighting, there was blistering sunlight and dumb luck as
which way stuff was facing.


--
Regards,

Savageduck

On 2012-06-02 12:18:03 -0700, tony cooper said:

On Sat, 02 Jun 2012 14:54:41 -0400, Alan Browne
wrote:

Dodge Brothers: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651894
Nice shot, I esp. like the 'squiggle' at the top right. This badge
prompted me to look if the Dodge brothers were Jewish or Mormon - but I
couldn't find such a link. They just like the "Star of David" form, I
guess. (One triangle per brother, perhaps?). Only the lower right of
this image is a bit of a downer.

I was intrigued by this because I see it as a Star of David and it
doesn't make sense to me for an automaker to attempt to appeal to any
particular religious group. Besides, all the Jewish doctors drove
Packards when I was growing up.

This site offers some possibilities:

http://www.allpar.com/cars/dodge/dodge-logos.php where it says:

The Dodge Brothers Club's FAQ states that the symbol was not chosen to
anger Henry Ford, and goes on to say that "At the time the emblem was
selected (most likely 1912-1914) it's likely that the Dodge brothers
were unaware of its use in Judiasm. In fact, at this time, that symbol
was not used universally in this context." It suggests these
possibilities, among others:

1. These are two interlocking Greek letter "deltas" or "Ds" for the
two Dodge brothers

Very informative. However, I suspect the above explanation is closest
to the truth. The brothers having no documented religious, spiritual,
or mystic leanings, and with Eastern blue collar roots, little
association with the West. They seemed to be two pretty down to earth
characters with little pretension with regard to their position in
society.

Here is my shot of the winged emblem off a 1922 Dodge Bros. Touring sedan.
http://db.tt/D82x0KVg


--
Regards,

Savageduck

On 2012-06-02 11:54:41 -0700, Alan Browne
said:

BTW: I just noticed that your X-Post didn't quite work as intended. You
goofed with the NG addressing.
You have inserted a period & a comma after "equipment" in
"rec.photo.equipment.,35mm" creating a invalid address. I guess it was
a phingrr phawlt, or tipoh.

I have corrected it in the Newsgroups address line.


--
Regards,

Savageduck

On 2012-06-02 17:35 , Savageduck wrote:
On 2012-06-02 11:54:41 -0700, Alan Browne
said:

BTW: I just noticed that your X-Post didn't quite work as intended. You
goofed with the NG addressing.
You have inserted a period & a comma after "equipment" in
"rec.photo.equipment.,35mm" creating a invalid address. I guess it was
a phingrr phawlt, or tipoh.

finger-phart is more like it.

thx


--
"Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities."
-Samuel Clemens.

On Sat, 02 Jun 2012 14:54:41 -0400, Alan Browne
wrote:


Bob Flint
Apetizers http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651901
As I've mentioned from time to time I like restrained colour palettes
and this one with the natural browns, creams and green is pretty good in
that respect. Composition is not all that studied (you could have
picked one away for the desirable "threes" composition). Detail is
pretty good. The white spot at the bottom's a bit of a distraction. A
macro (true) of these in the right light would be nice too.

I took lots of pic's of these guys, too bad I could only enter one of them. As
for composition, these fellows actually move out of frame quite quickly! With
macro, these snails are quite large and 1/1 would barely cover half of one. I
did take some head shots... Yes, I could have cropped it better! Lighting was
natural shade...

I don't know about "threes" composition so I'll look it up.

Dendelion http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651904
Nice. Detail seems a bit off (wrong focus point?). BG is just right -
a few stems to give depth, OOF, no distraction.

Not really sure what the camera focused on... it all looked within focus to my
old eyes!

White flowers http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651908
Nice framing of the bg flowers with the FG. I would have cropped the
bottom green area out as well as the edge of the back right group of
flowers. Exposure may be a tad too high. Contrast could have been a
little higher to bring out more punch in the back group.

I was thinking of cropping as you say - so next time I will follow my instincts!

I'll put up some other pics on alt.binaries.photos.original in case you drop by
there you could see 'em.

Thanks for commenting!

On Sat, 02 Jun 2012 14:54:41 -0400, Alan Browne
wrote:



Bowser
Dandelion http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651927
Such shots always seem to have a magic to them when well done. Here
more highlights through backlighting could have made for a stunning
shot. As is the delicate lines in the flower are well shown. A tighter
crop may have been better, eliminating most of the dark area to the
lower right.

Sigh...

I had a tighter crop initially but went back to this one. The tight
crop seemed a little too "in your face" for me.


Rust http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651930
One of my favourites of the bunch for meeting the mandate and
presenting an abstract image. I can imagine it as a river draining into
a lake or sea seen from high up - clouds over the lake. The only very
small thing I don't like is the dark edge to the left.

Helmet http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651934
Nice detail capture but otherwise leaves my boat on the bottom.


Oh, a helmet hater, eh?

:-)

On 2012-06-03 10:29 , Bowser wrote:
On Sat, 02 Jun 2012 14:54:41 -0400, Alan Browne
wrote:



Bowser
Dandelion http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651927
Such shots always seem to have a magic to them when well done. Here
more highlights through backlighting could have made for a stunning
shot. As is the delicate lines in the flower are well shown. A tighter
crop may have been better, eliminating most of the dark area to the
lower right.

Sigh...

We all see differently.


I had a tighter crop initially but went back to this one. The tight
crop seemed a little too "in your face" for me.


Rust http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651930
One of my favourites of the bunch for meeting the mandate and
presenting an abstract image. I can imagine it as a river draining into
a lake or sea seen from high up - clouds over the lake. The only very
small thing I don't like is the dark edge to the left.

Helmet http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651934
Nice detail capture but otherwise leaves my boat on the bottom.


Oh, a helmet hater, eh?

:-)

Just didn't interest me as a shot.

--
"Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities."
-Samuel Clemens.

On Sun, 03 Jun 2012 11:52:14 -0400, Alan Browne
wrote:

On 2012-06-03 10:29 , Bowser wrote:
On Sat, 02 Jun 2012 14:54:41 -0400, Alan Browne
wrote:



Bowser
Dandelion http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/143651927
Such shots always seem to have a magic to them when well done. Here
more highlights through backlighting could have made for a stunning
shot. As is the delicate lines in the flower are well shown. A tighter
crop may have been better, eliminating most of the dark area to the
lower right.

Sigh...

We all see differently.

And some can't see at all....