Are daffodils hard to photograph?

jthomas · April 8, 2005

April, and the yard is full of daffodils (only thing the deer don't eat). I've been trying to get some good shots with my new D70 (arrived Monday 4th), but I'm having lots of trouble getting satisfactory results. I've tried shooting in jpeg- fine and RAW. I've tried all sorts of adjustments with Photoshop, but the flower petals still look washed-out. I would appreciate any tips. The below is an example, shot in RAW, and converted to jpeg with Rawshooter Essentials with no adjustments. The picture was taken at iso 400, f/13.0 and 1/60 s, focal length 46mm.

jthomas · April 8, 2005

Here's a second one, using iso 200, f/11 and 1/60s, focal length 50mm.

Shay Stephens · April 8, 2005

Try shooting them on a sunny day, the contrast and saturation will be better.

If you can't wait for a sunny day, then you will have to add those things yourself to taste in your image editor.

Another thing to try if the sun won't cooperate is to create your own with a flash. Using an off-camera flash or or hot shoe flash that can be pointed off to the side at a reflector, try to light the flowers from the side as if low afternoon sun were lighting them up, you may like the results better than shooting in overcast conditions.

adrian_k · April 11, 2005

I know what you mean
We had some really nice dwarf daffodils in our garden that I tried photographing for another challenge.
I ended up just deleting them all. I just couldn't get any definition of the yellows. Even after PS they weren't much better.

jthomas wrote:

Here's a second one, using iso 200, f/11 and 1/60s, focal length 50mm.

jthomas · April 11, 2005

adrian_k wrote:

We had some really nice dwarf daffodils in our garden that I tried photographing for another challenge.
I ended up just deleting them all. I just couldn't get any definition of the yellows. Even after PS they weren't much better.

Misery loves company. In response to Shay's advice, I had already tried shooting in the sunshine and was very disappointed in the result, so was happy to have a cloudy day to try. It may come down to the dynamic range of the sensor. Below is my best effort to date.

Lucky Hack · April 11, 2005

here's some advice I gave Khaos and it should work for you as well...

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=9476

hoping this message finds you well -Ian

rutt · April 11, 2005

I like Shay's advice, but you don't need sun or a flash to get the effect.

Here is a PS edit of the dafs in the yard:

Here is the closeup:

I applied nearly exactly the same LAB curves to both shots:

It seemed that the dafs in the yard had already been sharpened (in-camera?) so I left them alone. But the closeup definitely had not been sharpened, so I used this USM move on it:

These are just quick edits. I think a more carefully written L curve could preserve the delicacy of the flowers better while still adding the needed contrast.

Composition is another thing. I tink the closeup should be even closer, and not so centered. Maybe not a completely straight on angle. The yard shot doesn't really convey the sense of a lot of flowers or their place in the yard. Shay might have some good advice about that.

jthomas · April 11, 2005

rutt wrote:

I like Shay's advice, but you don't need sun or a flash to get the effect.

Here is a PS edit of the dafs in the yard:

Thanks for your efforts. I had just finished reading your tutorial on sharpening, so I'm learning much this evening!

The group shot I had already applied USM too.

Are daffodils hard to photograph?

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