Photo of the Week #4

4/24/2020

These were taken after a rain. All were hand held. I've always been interested in water drops and especially liked the center water drop and also the ones along the hairs. The lupines are all over my meadow. The meadow has been cut and therefore there are stems, etc. The lupine were just coming up and were close to the ground. The background is a little busy, but you need a lot of depth of field for the water drops? Perhaps I could have tried stacking a couple of different focus point photos, but I hand held all these. I was amazed at the iphone photo quality. It seems brighter also- same lupine. Perhaps I don't need an expensive camera now that I have the iPhone 11 pro?
Lupine #1 1/200 at f 8 Nikon Z 7 macro 105 mm
Lupine #2 1/40 at f 13 Nikon Z 7 macro 105 mm
iphone #3 with iPhone 11 pro with 3rd camera which enlarges

The iphone11 Pro has 3 camera lenses.

Title: Lupine 1
Photographer: Dianne Roberts

Title: Lupine 2
Photographer: Dianne Roberts

Title: Iphone 3
Photographer: Dianne Roberts

9 Comments

Peter Chow

4/24/2020 04:56:35 pm

Iphone Pro 11 uses an Apple "preset" call deep-fusion to process the photos before you see them on the screen.

https://www.imore.com/youll-need-disable-capture-outside-frame-use-deep-fusion-iphone-11

If you process your Lupine 1 and Lupine 2 RAW files you will have better quality final images, especially if you crop tightly to the Lupine and print it large (if you use them in social media the iphone quality will be just fine).

The Lupine will be better if the background are blurred out as in your National Garden Award image of the water drops. You will probably need to photo-stack the image.

DIANNE ROBERTS link

4/25/2020 03:54:43 am

I was surprized when I viewed these on the blog. I couldn't see them on my ipad or laptop like I could at home on my desktop. Perhaps it was a mistake to post these. They are so small it's hard to distinguish any differences. On my desktop the iphone phone is sharper and has more depth of field. Thanks Peter for your commnent.

Sally Perreten

4/25/2020 04:04:02 am

It's always dismaying when an iPhone takes what might seem an image as good as, or maybe better than, our expensive cameras. 2 things to comfort you: 1- it gave you no control over dof or exposure. As good as its "thinking" was, it left you no room for your creativity. 2- All you need is a black dog to test camera vs phone results. A good camera wins hands down.

archie Stone

4/25/2020 05:48:43 am

Diane, You answered your own question in your write up as to why you need a "real" camera. George Fellner has been sending me his I phone images for years for my comments. and to show what they would and would not do. Under the right conditions he has gotten 11x14 images but they were cityscapes and DOF was not an issue. Still the blacks blocked up and had no detail. Sally hit it on the head. With a camera and the right lens you would have been able to move in closer and used a shallower DOF to get what you wanted. One of the big reasons I went to M4/3 Olympus was the weight and size so I could carry it all the time. They also make the TG series with a 12-100 mm and a one inch sensor that slips into a pocket. by the way nice find on the image, now grab the big boy and head back out.

Mike Frechette

4/25/2020 07:29:24 am

Just a general comment. I've noticed that the pictures posted tend to be very small (20K-80K jpegs) - one way I look at images is to download and display them full screen. Unfortunately, highly compressed images like these tend to lose all sharpness, making a true assessment of the picture somewhat problematic. I know that iPhone pictures have probelms- but I also believe that the "best camera to use is the one you have with you." So if an iPhone is what you have with you, then take the picture with it.
Good pictures still rely on composition, exposure, etc. and to some extent, you can work with an iphone to achieve those images.

Dave Rathbun

4/26/2020 10:57:11 am

The image of the lupine taken with your Iphone certainly does pop. The prevalence of smart phones and the continual technical upgrades to the camera have given the masses the ability to be "photographers". Yet, although I don't own one of these devices, the few opportunities I've had to use one to take a photo has left me with a feeling that there's something missing. For me, that means loss of control and creativity. I enjoy "experimenting" when I use my DSLR, seeing which settings work and which don't. And from that "experimentation" comes a degree of learning and opportunity for fewer images to be relegated to the trash. So from my prospective, keep shooting mainly with your DSLR and Z7. On the other hand, if you really feel that Iphone photography is the way to go, contact me and we can discuss the liquidation of your other cameras and gear.

DIANNE ROBERTS link

4/27/2020 07:04:35 am

Peter has been experimenting with the images and had a great resolution to the problem. Layers and blurring the background. I don't think focus stacking would have worked since the leaf was on the ground. Perhaps it would when the lupine grows taller. Thanks Peter.

Allison Maltese

4/27/2020 09:56:27 am

It is a bit hard to really critique these images at such a small size. I happen to agree with Peter, that the lupine leaf would come off the background better at a shallower depth of field. How does the new iPhone lens/setting compare to using Camera +2 macro setting? Just curious. The central position of the radial leaf is well suited to the subject. I'd love to see a print of this bigger!

Maryann Flick

4/29/2020 07:07:23 am

1. Sometimes with macro shots intended to be "fine art" you just need to have selective focus, shallow DoF where the background is very blurred and some of the subject is in focus. Here perhaps at least one droplet and parts of the leaf. What's the f/stop in #1 and #2?
2. Not so much a question of how good an iPhone is v. another type of camera with more functions. It's knowing the limitations of one camera over another and working with the strengths, avoiding shots that you know won't work unless you do significant post-processing.
3. Posting here opens up the possibility of image theft so small files are best. We don't need excruciating analysis of images.

Photo of the Week #4

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