Blackthorn

[Ralph Turner]

When a humble phone camera does the job nicely. I was able to reach in and get up close to the lovely blossom without disturbing the rest of the bush. I adjusted the exposure down a little to avoid blowing out the highlights.

 

[Gianluca Drago]

Nice. This (and the blackbirds I'm hearing singing in the garden now) declare spring officially open.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Nice. This (and the blackbirds I'm hearing singing in the garden now) declare spring officially open.

Thank you. Daffodils coming into bloom is another very welcome sight.

 

[Ralph Turner]

One for Rob, maybe.. I had a quick play with converting to b+w and cropping in a bit to give greater emphasis to the shape and subtle textures of each blossom. I quite like it, even the soap bubble bokeh isn't too out of place. I'd be interested to hear what other folk think (baring in mind it is 'only' a phone sensor (Samsung S6)

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Pretty good for a phone, I'd say, but the 'bubbles' are not as soft as I like, the whites maybe too 'alive', if you get what I mean?

 

[Ralph Turner]

Pretty good for a phone, I'd say, but the 'bubbles' are not as soft as I like, the whites maybe too 'alive', if you get what I mean?

I can see what you mean on both counts. With the 'bubbles' I was a little undecided at first, maybe finding them a little distracting, but they did sort of grow on me a little. I agree with you regarding the petals. I was trying to balance retaining a little detail with the wonderfully crisp white as I saw them. Like you, I'm not totally convinced I got it right in the conversion. I suspect, had I been able to shoot the pic with my 6D + macro the tonal rendering would have been smoother, easier to edit, maybe. I could, of course, just me making excuses for myself . Anyway, all a bit of fun.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Well, it’s good to try things, no matter the outcome.

 

[Brian Moore]

When a humble phone camera does the job nicely. I was able to reach in and get up close to the lovely blossom without disturbing the rest of the bush. I adjusted the exposure down a little to avoid blowing out the highlights.

Nice OOF. (Or "bokeh" if you prefer.) Did you have the phone in "portrait" mode, Ralph?

 

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks, Brian. No, it was in its standard setting, but the blossoms were only 2-3 inches from the lens, at roughly its minimum focus.

 

[Jan Serdeczniejszy]

It sounds like you had a successful photography session capturing the beauty of blossom with your phone camera! Being able to get up close without disturbing the surroundings is a great advantage, especially when photographing delicate subjects like flowers. Adjusting the exposure to avoid blowing out the highlights shows your attention to detail and desire to capture the scene accurately. Keep up the great work, and happy photographing!