Reply To: looking for some honesty. :-D

[nesgran]

Wow, Worst Case Scenario’s reply was rude and not very constructive. I can kind of understand why Lee14k was defensive. The other replies were very useful and constructive though.

Really, how on earth was that rude?

Anyway, a couple of pointers for camera handling that will help the OP out. 1. start shooting in Av mode instead of Tv, aperture is far, far more important when shooting static subjects than the shutter speed is. 2. Stop doing manual focus, you won’t do it better than your camera with an entry level dslr without a focussing screen built for manual focus.

Of the shots the only interesting shot is the one with the two leaves and the moth yet that is still lacking a bit. Photos in general don’t look interesting when you have a very bland leaf or flower smack bang in the middle of the frame. If it was an interesting angle or with an interesting angle of view. For example I’ve seen many stunning photos of dandelions when there has been another element to it than it just straight up for example using the extreme distortion and odd angle you get from a close up with a very wide angle lens or even a fish eye. Another variant would be the same shot but against a completely black background to give the yellow of the flower a chance to properly stand out and the symmetry of the plant. Add a bit more interesting lighting to it and it can pop quite nicely.

Here is an example, not a dandelion mind you but it isn’t that different:

View post on imgur.com

This is shot with equipment which isn’t far off what you’ve got there with the addition of two cheap flashes and a piece of black foam board for a few dollars. Of course it isn’t perfect, it isn’t as sharp as it could be but it stands as an example of what you can achieve with fairly limited gear