# Picture of a white flower



## Silvan (Mar 11, 2012)

hi all, 
I've been trying to take a picture of my phrag Sedenii, and the flower is always blurry.. I was wondering if anyone had any trick to take a decent picture of a white flower.. Thanks


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## SlipperFan (Mar 11, 2012)

"Blurry" can mean a number of things, but I'm guessing it looks blurry because it is overexposed. Assuming the flower isn't moving and you aren't too close to it in order for the lens to focus properly, try setting your exposure by putting your hand close by the flower, focus on it and hold that focus/exposure while you take your hand away and aim toward the flower. A tripod will help in any case.


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## Silvan (Mar 11, 2012)

I meant blurry like that ...





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## NYEric (Mar 11, 2012)

I can tell you need a darker background!


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## Erythrone (Mar 11, 2012)

Eric means you should put the plant on the stove like he does when he takes pics!


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## SlipperFan (Mar 11, 2012)

That kind of blurry is because your camera isn't focusing on the flower -- it is too close to the lens.


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## Erythrone (Mar 11, 2012)

The focus seems to be on the base of the stem.

Is the autofocus OK when you shoot? Maybe the camera is unable to focus on the subject. It happens sometimes when there is not enough contrast or in low light. Or as Dot said when you are too close.


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## Silvan (Mar 11, 2012)

Thanks, for the infos.. it was in the afternoon as I find the light around that time makes the colors pop out ..I'll try a darker background and pull aways from the flower..'cause yur right the lens seems to be focussing on the stem.
But is it particular for white flowers to need to get further from the flower to get a nicer focus? (not sure how to say it in english) ..I'm asking because the closer I get to the besseae flavum the better the flower pops out ..





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I just noticed on that pic that the stem is blurry, compared to the sedenii one...


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## Erythrone (Mar 12, 2012)

IMO it is not because it is a white flower but because the camera is unable to recognize the subject (not enough contrast or something else. Something, the subject is too complicated. To much details. It is not the case here). 

Can you select just one "collimateur" on your camera?

Are you able to set the focus yourself with your camera (manual mode of lens)?

You can also do the focus just beside the flower on another object. 

I don't know how to say all those things in English. Dot will be better than me.


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## NYEric (Mar 12, 2012)

Erythrone said:


> Eric means you should put the plant on the stove like he does when he takes pics!


 Wow! BTW, I dont do that anymore; no room on the stove.


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## SlipperFan (Mar 12, 2012)

Erythrone said:


> IMO it is not because it is a white flower but because the camera is unable to recognize the subject (not enough contrast or something else. Something, the subject is too complicated. To much details. It is not the case here).
> 
> Can you select just one "collimateur" on your camera?
> 
> ...


Actually, you did quite well.

Silvan, if you look at your yellow besseae closely, you'll notice that the petals are quite sharp, but the back of the pouch is a little blurry. You might be able to overcome that if you can change your aperture to a smaller size (e.g., f/ll is a smaller size than f/8. Otherwise, you should back off just a little more. What you have here is a case of shallow depth-of-field. The closer you are to a subject, the shallower the D/F will be at any given aperture. That's why backing off just a little more may help.

Erythrone's statement about focusing on something beside the flower is similar to my suggestion about placing your hand beside the flower, focusing on that, then hold the focus/exposure setting while you aim back at the flower. 

At any rate, you have improved -- the besseae is much better than the Sedenii.


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