My Very First Closeup

[Taz]

Hello everyone.
A big day of firsts...
First posted image to Nikonites.
First DSLR and first images from the camera.

During my first outing I was experimenting with aperture and trying to blur the background while maintaining correct exposure.

I would appreciate any comments, critique of this image.

Model
NIKON D90
Aperture
5.3
Exposure Time
1/60
Lens Spec
18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G VR
Focal Length
105.0 mm
ISO
400

 

[Rexer John]

Any idea what it is? Seed pods but what type of bush/tree? Do any bushes have seed pods

Looks like you got what you set out to do, did you have to take a lot of shots to get the best one? Reason I ask is the shutter speed is slow for 105mm but it is helped by the VR.

The seeds are a bit small in the picture, I'd crop the left, top and bottom tighter for more impact.

 

[Taz]

These are seed pods of the Harakeke (NZ Flax) plant. I only took 2 shots the other was out of focus all-over. This shot is straight from the camera.
Thanks

 

[BackdoorArts]

Agreed on the shutter speed. For stuff like this it helps to have a tripod (a rule I break constantly to my own great frustration), but as a rule you'll want a shutter speed that matches or exceeds your focal length (i.e. at 105mm you want something faster than 1/105 sec) to minimize camera moverment. VR helps, but with a subject like this it's more important to eliminate all movement (remember, turn off VR when using a tripod). The subject is deep enough that you can't reduce aperture as the back end is already a little soft focused so your choice is tripod or raise your ISO - or keep shooting until you get one. Thankfully digital film is cheap.

 

[Taz]

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. Much appreciated.

 

[Marcel]

It's a nicely exposed photo and you did a good job of blurring the background. Maybe if you had used the lens with a longer focal length you could have blurred it more but you would have lost some clarity on the actual subject.

As far as your settings, you could just post the shutter speed, iso, focal lenght, aperture, camera model and lens. All the other stuff is just too much as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Taz]

Thanks Marcel for the comments. Have cleaned up the list of settings and will remember for future postings.