Please comment, Focal point and DOF

[Spriter]

I am still trying to get this right. If you could give me your opinion?

Thanks

[ridicwilco]

well the water bubble appears out of focus

[edbayani11]

your subject, the water droplet is in the right place if you apply the rule of thirds or the diagonal method. the lens opening that you used is just right to produce the right dof. what i find lacking is the lighting. i don't know if it is my monitor but it is dark overall. the subject bubble is lost in this kind of lighting. it can be corrected by proper post processing by accentuating the bubble and getting your black and white pints in order. it seems your white point, if you look at the histogram of levels is not in the right place.

i hope this helps.

[Alex Wilson]

I like it. The highlight on the water appears sharp, that's important. Flow and shapes of it is very nice.

I think I'd like it a little better with about half the bottom between the drop cropped out. The focal point is a little too central.

[joaoandreqff]

The only problem for me is that's a little too dark. Focal point and DOF are fine, for me.

[Spriter]

what i find lacking is the lighting. i don't know if it is my monitor but it is dark overall. the subject bubble is lost in this kind of lighting. it can be corrected by proper post processing by accentuating the bubble and getting your black and white pints in order. it seems your white point, if you look at the histogram of levels is not in the right place.

i hope this helps.

You are quite right. I did create this problem in post-processing. The orginal image is better. Thanks for pointing this out.

While working on my technique, I find rather amazing the number of different items that needs to be reviewed in order to make a decent shot a good one. I guess some might have put together a checklist of things that are worth verifying....

Looking at the histogram, and considering the subject, it is too dark.

[Marko]

your subject, the water droplet is in the right place if you apply the rule of thirds or the diagonal method. the lens opening that you used is just right to produce the right dof. what i find lacking is the lighting. i don't know if it is my monitor but it is dark overall. the subject bubble is lost in this kind of lighting. it can be corrected by proper post processing by accentuating the bubble and getting your black and white pints in order. it seems your white point, if you look at the histogram of levels is not in the right place.

i hope this helps.Bang on critique Ed, bang on. You're making my 'job' easier - many thanks!

All i want to add is look for bright elements in a scene. There's one in the background for example and it competes with the focal point.

[Mad Aussie]

Not much I could add to this I don't think. I agree with Ed's assessment and also with Marko's added 'distraction' comment although I don't think it's as big of a distraction as it is a secondary focal point which adds a bit of depth in this case. But that's certainly a subjective point.

I don't agree the droplet is out of focus, it looks fine to me and getting that dof to run along that textured leading line of the flower back to the droplet is very well done!

In terms of lighting I wonder if this is slightly under-exposed? It may just be the white/black point though as suggested. A tiny bit of contrast boost might help but I suspect the white point fix would achieve the same result.

[Alex Wilson]

Bang on critique Ed, bang on. You're making my 'job' easier - many thanks!

All i want to add is look for bright elements in a scene. There's one in the background for example and it competes with the focal point.

I'm not sure I totally agree -- the rule of thirds is a and hotspots are good generalizations, but you also get stacks of predictable images if that's all you shoot. Like all rules, they should be broken when there's good reason.

I do agree that you probably don't want the drop dead centre, nor right up on an edge, but try some different crops. The lower right side is pretty empty, but cropping that side moves the drop rather central. When an image has really obvious and pulling lines like this that direct the eye, it's a very good candidate to play loose with the rule of thirds.

As for hot spots, I think you are wrong. Actually, I'd want a bit of visual tension created by having some bright background areas -- with a very limited depth-of-field, you don't get the same level of distraction you get with a more focused image -- background elements can get a fair bit brighter and not be overly distracting because they lack any real detail. Keeping them as muted as you would for a focused image will result in a potentially boring shallow focus image.

[edbayani11]

hey, spriter, you are lucky because you are getting good 'critiques' from other members that will help you 'get it right'.
different interpretations of your work which is actually the second step in critiquing. the 'fun' part of critiquing. interpretation is a very personal thing and may differ greatly from someone else's. as you can see in the posts. the posts are all educated and intelligent expressions so, soak it all up. aren't you glad you are in this forum! :)

[Mad Aussie]

It's a good point Ed. Just because people 'disagree' does not make either opinion 'correct.' They are simply different viewpoints born from different experiences and tastes.

[Spriter]

hey, spriter, you are lucky because you are getting good 'critiques' from other members that will help you 'get it right'.
different interpretations of your work which is actually the second step in critiquing. the 'fun' part of critiquing. interpretation is a very personal thing and may differ greatly from someone else's. as you can see in the posts. the posts are all educated and intelligent expressions so, soak it all up. aren't you glad you are in this forum! :)

I really appreciated all your intelligent notes and remarks. Very Happy also to have started posting and shooting with a specific objectives in a specific field. Doing so, it is easier for me to grasp more.

Thanks to everybody. Will continue improving and might be able to contribute myself down the road.

[Marko]

it can be corrected by proper post processing by accentuating the bubble and getting your black and white pints in order. it seems your white point, if you look at the histogram of levels is not in the right place.

I think this is an important point Ed. Can you describe your technique for this?

Many thx!

Marko

[F8&Bthere]

I'm not sure I totally agree -- the rule of thirds is a and hotspots are good generalizations, but you also get stacks of predictable images if that's all you shoot. Like all rules, they should be broken when there's good reason.

I AGREE 100% Alex, and if everyone´s opinion counts for something, I´d still like more DOF but everything else I like.

[edbayani11]

I think this is an important point Ed. Can you describe your technique for this?

Many thx!

Marko

whenever i open a new image in photoshop, and find it wanting in contrast, i go to levels because it has a histogram and below the histogram are 3 triangles representing the black, middle and white points. most of the time you will notice that the end point triangles are not below where the histogram starts to rise. adjust the end points and move them to where the histogram starts to rise and you will see a marked change. if you still find it dark or light, you can adjust the middle triangle to the right to make it darker or left, lighter.
you can see the clipped or specular highlights by pressing Alt as you adjust the white endpoint. the image will turn black and white blobs will appear as you move the triangle. more whites will appear as you move it further to the left. these white blobs represents the clipped or specular highlights. you can do the same with the black point. it doesn't work with the middle triangle.
and while i'm at it, i usually correct for color casts and look for gray areas in the image like cement sidewalks, car tires or shadows on white clothing. i click the middle eyedropper of levels and click on the found gray area to correct the cast. this usually us enough but sometimes fine tune some more.

[Marko]

Very clear explanation ED! I often use curves in a similar way but I've always found that levels is more intuitive especially for beginners... and that Alt trick for seeing specular highlights is super-cool and works with curves as well!
many thanks :highfive: Marko

[Spriter]

whenever i open a new image in photoshop, and find it wanting in contrast, i go to levels because it has a histogram and below the histogram are 3 triangles representing the black, middle and white points. most of the time you will notice that the end point triangles are not below where the histogram starts to rise. adjust the end points and move them to where the histogram starts to rise and you will see a marked change. if you still find it dark or light, you can adjust the middle triangle to the right to make it darker or left, lighter.
you can see the clipped or specular highlights by pressing Alt as you adjust the white endpoint. the image will turn black and white blobs will appear as you move the triangle. more whites will appear as you move it further to the left. these white blobs represents the clipped or specular highlights. you can do the same with the black point. it doesn't work with the middle triangle.
and while i'm at it, i usually correct for color casts and look for gray areas in the image like cement sidewalks, car tires or shadows on white clothing. i click the middle eyedropper of levels and click on the found gray area to correct the cast. this usually us enough but sometimes fine tune some more.

Wow thanks a lot. This helped me.