Flower Macros and Sharpening Tutorial

Last month I bought a back issue of Digital Camera, a top U.K. magazine, but up to now I am not thru reading it. Nevertheless, it is an ideal magazine for professional photographers and the amateurs like me. Herein, I learned that in shooting flower macros, it is more effective to compose the shot in a vertical orientation rather than horizontal. It is an effort and more difficult to shoot flowers this way but once you get the hang of it, it's like 2nd nature. The reason behind shooting veritically is that flowers are in nature vertically oriented isn't it? In fact, getting the stem with them gives it more reason to shoot in the said orientation. However, no rules in photography is absolute, so break the rules only when you have mastered it. Once mastered, you'll know the best way how to break it.











































Practice, practice, practice. As always advise by expert photographers and so I always do.

The rest of the result can be found in http://yaj10.multiply.com/photos/album/108/Macro_Photoset or at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mystrongice3

Note that these photos were sharp from the very beginning. I took them using my kit lens Nikkor 18-55mm VR except for one which I took using Nikkor 55-200mm VR @200mm. This is the photo I am talking about.











































How do you make them sharper then? I don't know how to do it in jpeg but definitely know in Camera Raw. In Photoshop's camera raw, go to sharpening. Zoom in closer to your subject and adjust the levels of sharpening, radius, masking, and the noise reduction part. Take note that too much sharpening can also cause the subject to appear unreal so set your dials right.

Cheating? It varies on your perspective, but for me, in photography it is not just about the shot. The before, during and after the shot counts!

Disclaimer: This is not fool proof and I'm not an expert as well. Follow the above at your own risk. Goodluck!

Cheers,
Jay