Rhoadies and Redwoods

[Kyle Jones]

No, not one of those gorgeous scenes with giant trees and fog. This is the best I could come up with at Kruse Rhododendron along the Sonoma Coast. I did a little focus stacking, but it was a challenge as the flowers were swaying gently in the breeze. I elected to keep the flowers sharp and let the trees go a little soft. Any thoughts are welcome.

 

[Mike Lewis]

I always get super focused on having my image all in focus (pun intended.) I realize when I see a treatment like this that sometimes that is not only not required but maybe even not beneficial. To me for this scene, having the trees a little soft looks natural and also focuses the attention n the beautiful flowers all the more. Works well for me - those bright colors really pop in this shaded scene.

ML

 

[Douglas Sherman]

No, not one of those gorgeous scenes with giant trees and fog. This is the best I could come up with at Kruse Rhododendron along the Sonoma Coast. I did a little focus stacking, but it was a challenge as the flowers were swaying gently in the breeze. I elected to keep the flowers sharp and let the trees go a little soft. Any thoughts are welcome.

View attachment 18704

Very nice, Kyle. The flowers against those redwoods are spectacular.

 

[JohnC]

That's really nice Kyle. I just returned from a trip to the redwoods around Crescent City. It was my first time. I had high hopes. While I enjoyed being there I was disappointed with my photo results. There's an awful lot of clutter in those forests and those shots are harder to find and make than one might think. But I'm already thinking how I can do better next year.

 

[AlanLichty]

I like the focus on the blooms - it helps to highlight the primary subjects and adds a 3D pop to it as well.

 

[JimFox]

Awesome looking Kyle! I sure like the look of this one.

You have highlighted one of the reasons I never focus stack. Letting the background be slightly soft, often imperceptible unless pixel peeping even sometimes is something I like as it mimics real life vision and helps to render depth to an image. Our mind expects that objects in the distance will not be as sharp as objects close up, so when everything in an image is tack sharp, where is the natural depth at? Often it’s disappeared. I know photographers who labor and spend an enourmous amount of time worrying about focus stacking rather then just photographing. It’s a shame all of that lost time and energy.

 

[JimFox]

Congrats on the Daily Featured Post Kyle!

@Kyle Jones

 

[Amy Nelson]

Very nice image Kyle!

 

[MonikaC]

Very nice, Kyle! Yeah, that focus stacking with flowers..... good case for a tilt/shift or perspective control lens!

 

[Douglas Sherman]

Awesome looking Kyle! I sure like the look of this one.

You have highlighted one of the reasons I never focus stack. Letting the background be slightly soft, often imperceptible unless pixel peeping even sometimes is something I like as it mimics real life vision and helps to render depth to an image. Our mind expects that objects in the distance will not be as sharp as objects close up, so when everything in an image is tack sharp, where is the natural depth at? Often it’s disappeared. I know photographers who labor and spend an enourmous amount of time worrying about focus stacking rather then just photographing. It’s a shame all of that lost time and energy.

Boy did you ever hit the nail on the head, Jim. I never focus stack. Instead, I use f-22 to get the depth of field I need. At that setting, the amount of softening due to diffraction is fundamentally inconsequential in close-up flower or landscape photography.

 

[Timmeh]

Hey Kyle,

I agree that this image doesn't need sharp focus through to the background. The rhodie blooms are the focus and the trees are supporting.

I'm finding tilt-shift lenses more and more constraining in terms of focal length since zooms are my go to lenses, though I don't think tilting would have gotten good results in this situation either. Focus stacking has produced a number of images for me that would have been less successful otherwise. While it isn't easy to deal with wind or other subject movement, I often take insurance focus bracketing just like I would exposure bracketing in case I feel like it adds to the image.

Tim

 

[Alisa]

WOW!! I love this image so beautiful!

 

[Dean]

Kyle,
Beautiful shot.. I like what you did here. The main show are the blooms and the softer background puts and directs the viewers focus on what you intended to feature. Some shots need total focus and some shots need selective focus..I am always driven by what I want to feature in the comp.
Regards,
Dean

Congrats on the DFP

 

[Bart Carrig]

Very nice. I've always wanted to shoot a scene like this -- but this is a great substitute for having one of my own.

Bart