Franklin Park Conservatory

[BlackRider]

I didn't put these up on TPF yet... I want to PS them first, but I would love some hints as to what ought to be adjusted. i.e. any way you'd change cropping, colors, sharpness (did I over sharpen?), etc... and what would you have done different in taking these pictures?

Enjoy:

9704

1/2s F/27 28mm

9727

1/10s F/8 85mm

9802

1/8s F/5.6 72mm

9810

0.3s F/8 30mm

9824

1/4s F/8 35mm

9844

1/30s F/5.6 31mm

9860

30s F/10 41mm

9872

30s F/14 50mm

9879

30s F/18 85mm

9883

0.3s F/5.6 85mm

[XMEN Gambit]

I didn't see any real oversharpening.
On the first one you may want to brighten up the shadows some more, even at the risk of blowing out the highlights. If you're careful you may be able to use layers and mix the two halves better.

I like the train motion shot.

Shadows are interesting in 9860.

9879 is a colorful subject. Good that you used fill flash, since it looks like the shot needed it, but the reflection detracts from the beauty, I think. A diffuser would have helped. It's possible that the flash threw off your color balance a little too, but I can't tell.

Love the light in the last one.

[BlackRider]

Thanks for the input Gambit. Heh, the train is the best of ~30. I knew how much blur I wanted... it's just that 1/8s is next to impossible to pan. I really should have tried the 70-200 with the IS set to mode 2. (IS for vertical movement, but free horizontal movement) The few test shots I tried w/ mode 2 when I first got the lens turned out really well... maybe next time.

I had high hopes for 9860... I just wish I realized that I had messed up the framing while I was still at the conservatory. It really bothers me with the 2nd flower clipping the frame. :-S

As for 9879, the reflection on the nearest part of the flower is from the conservatory lighting... however, on the black things and in the center of the flower is from flash.

The last one is actually my favorite... but do you think a bit more DOF would have made it better?

[XMEN Gambit]

Depends what you're looking for. Given the lighting and subject, softness is probably desirable. Another approach would be to get a lot of depth so it's all clear and then use a blur effect in post.

On that last, I can tell what's flash by the bluish color. That's a big reason why it's distracting. (Using a gel on a flash to match the color to ambient lighting is something I've not tried yet, but read a bit about.)