Purple Pansies by auntietk
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
Can anyone give me some tips, here? The white centers on these pansies are overexposed, and I'm far too new at this to know why. (I just started taking photographs seriously about a month ago.)
These flowers were facing basically South, with the sun shining directly on them. I've got a Konica/Minolta DiMage Z3, and I'm just doing point-and-shoot. Everything is on auto-whatever. I've found the macro flower symbol, and the macro S-flower symbol, and use them all the time. I'm sure I took this with one of those two settings. (Probably S-flower.)
I'm planning on reading the manual some day! Right now it's somewhere at my man's house, and he hasn't found it yet.
Oh - another important bit of information. The light here is very white and harsh. We have LOTS of cloud cover. I'm several miles North of Seattle. Waiting for better light isn't an option. There won't be better light until the middle of July, when the sky will actually be blue for a couple of months.
Anything anyone can tell me will be appreciated!

Comments (16)
I think they look lovely..i should get my manual out also and read it, but sometimes it's just easier to point and shoot and if you don't like the shot, delete it!...lol
Beautiful colors in these!! I think the reason is too much sun, next time try taking it in the shade, I think that will help. I find the mornings or the late afternoon is better light for these shots. IMHO!!!!!
Do you have any software to manipulate your images...a lot of imperfections can be adjusted for...but some programs have a large learning curve..
Wonderfull colors and superb centring... an excellent shot!
Yes ! Soo beautiful Pansies and I do indeed love this kind of flowers. I think there is just some times at the day, that is not the best to take pictures in sunshine. That is my experience....as if I had any LOL. And I believe you are right about the time of the year too. Although you shouldnt wait untill July, to take shots of that flowers ;) Sorry just joking, cant help it. GGG !
Oh so beautiful it reminds me of Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix..lol..by the way my husband shook hands with him...One year we bought him a 4 CD collection...Also on his obit that my daughter made up, which is very nice on the front she put a picture of him and beside it, it says "Excuse Me While I Kiss The Sky."
Not so easy to do ! Good !
Excellent shot of this beautiful flowers. The colors are fantastic!!
I have a pair of earrings that look just like these. Beautiful capture.
Very beautiful.
Sorry I can't help, I'm no photographer....lovely photo anyway ! ~ Hugzzz !
These are amazingly pretty flowers. I like how you've been framing your art too. I just learned more about taking photographs by reading your post than I've ever known. Did not even consider the sun at all. I too have overexposed flower images and now I know why. THanks.
I think the whites of the flowers are a little over exposed but the over all picture is very pretty. I love the frame it really helps set the picture off. Very nice
Good balance, and lots of vibrant colors in this magnificent capture. As for the overexposure, check out the section on White balance in your instruction manual. Maybe that will be of some use. If not, there is always God's gift to man, i.e., Photoshop! Incidentally, one of my cameras is a Konica/Minolta DiMage Z2, which is a real sweet picture taker.
These pansies are splendid !!! Very beautiful photograph
I can only give you some advice for the old school film camera--when I used to take pansies in LA, I'd crank the aperture down a lot, between 11 and 16 on the lens (I'm self-taught, so I am sure that corresponds to an f number or something, all I know is that 1-4 is for dim light, and the higher number for brighter stuff) The display inside will say something like 250. You'll lose shadow detail but it will keep the highlights from being blown out. You can cheat a little too if you want more shadow detail--get a piece of white foam core and get a buddy to balance the board so it bounces more light on the side of the pansies that is in shadow--that kind of evens things out. You can fool around in Photoshop to brighten stuff, but if you plan to do that try to get your pics too dark--Photoshop can drag detail out of places that look black, but it can't find anything in blank white places. You can also try holding a window screen high above the pansies to filter the light slightly, or get a polarizing filter. Old school filters were like magic, they were expensive but they work great--I think Mayda Mason uses them sometimes.