you've mastered that editing tool! very good point about using lots of editing tools in tiny amounts. If you'd just used a "sharpen" filter, the results would have gotten pixelated before looking nearly as sharp.

I like both the dramatic and the softer effects. Shows what editing can do when you start out with a really great photo!

Thanks Fleur,
I'm sure it would have turned out much more spectacular if you had the full size to work with.
I'm so challenged when it comes to editing and I'm always afraid to do too much. I've created some really ugly disasters playing around not knowing what I'm doing

Disclaimer: I'm working with minimalist equipment and the best I can do is phone camera and a bendable reading lamp that I could hold in my hand. I can't get better equipment nor can I do a whole lot with my camera.

Alright... night pics.

More like a necessity for me, as in winter it's night already at the time of day when I have the time to take pictures of my plants. I just need some basic advice for better visibility of detail, life hack-ey stuff that would increase the picture quality in some way. I don't know a damn about photography and don't want a piece of art, my focus is on the plant and not the pic. Plant for the plant, not plant for the pic

Dewayz, I'm definitely not a pro, but I know the basics. Here's one piece of advice that many people overlook: pay attention to what is around the plant. Remove the clutter and notice the background. Aim for the simplest, cleanest surrounding and background that you can achieve. No matter how wonderful your plant is, the viewer's eye will move immediately to surrounding clutter.

Also be careful with glass backgrounds. Your photo above isn't bad, but sometimes glass will bounce unwanted light or reflect things you don't want in the photo.

Play with your point of view. Rather than shooting from above (standing position), try moving down to the level of the plant or even lower, looking up toward it. Sometimes your POV will be determined by what part of the plant you wish to emphasize.

You can achieve a lot with a camera phone and a spot lamp plus maybe an overhead light. If possible, avoid using your camera's flash. If you must, try standing further away and zooming to between 1.5x and 2x. This is to weaken the bright flash, which can look harsh. If too close to the subject, it will blow out detail. Too far back can look grainy, so play with it.

Finally, take advantage of whatever editing tools you have. You don't need a fancy photo processing program. Minor cropping and color correction make a big difference. Nearly every photo can be improved with some cropping, even just a little.

Here are a couple of examples of what I've mentioned, taken just now in my kitchen.

Nice plant, but clutter is distracting


With overhead light and small lamp


With flash (see how harsh it looks?)


Lower POV, cropped and slightly brightened


Yours, cropped

Owwwww didn't quite think that croppery is so powerful!
Thanks, you now also gave me a reason to clean up my shelves XD

Also do I like the brightened one, how does one do that?

Depends on your phone and whatever photo program you have...just phone? Computer?

Oh, so afteredity thingies...
Yea, I'll maybe look into that, but I don't think I have time to get onto PC every time I shoot a pic ;P

I'll post another pic in a week, trying all the things you said, then lets see whether that's better

Dewayx, you should be able to do it on your phone unless it is very old. Takes seconds to make basic edits. I adjust casual shots on my phone and use my laptop for more detailed editing because I can see focus and detail better on the larger screen. It's your choice about how much time you wish to devote to your photographs. You spend months nurturing a beautiful plant—why not devote a few minutes to creating a respectable photograph of it?

Great tips!

If you're using even a very simple photo editor, you usually have the chance to change the exposure (lighten or darken), increase the contrast (increases both highlights and shadows, helps the "flat" look of high noon photos), change shadows or highlights (glare spots can be reduced by reducing highlights).Be really careful with increasing color intensity, as it can help a washed-out photo, but a little *like 3-4 points out of 50) goes a long way.

I've gotten accustomed to taking wider shots than I need so I can later crop them into various sizes. Lately, I've gone back to more careful framing in my camera's widescreen format, so my shot composition doesn't just happen later during cropping!

Apart from all of the above suggestions, I'm thinking that you could try to reduce the harsh light from your desk/reading lamp using a piece of baking paper (quick and cheap). The results will depend on the type of paper, but it should diffuse the light somewhat and spread it more evenly across the subject (your plant), so you won't get the extreme highlights and shadows.