Cadillactaste
Neagari Gal
Trying to capture the last hoorah of fall on this Boston Ivy in a Masako Kunii pot (Japan) on a Wan root stand (Thailand)
With flash...
Without...
With flash...
Without...
🤷 which one...
- Thread starter Cadillactaste
- Start date
coachspinks
Chumono
I like the without flash best. Great looking tree though!
Ryceman3
Shohin
No flash gives a more natural and better colour contrast I think. It’s definitely worth a photo! 
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Nanuk
Shohin
Natural lighting is always better when u have it.
penumbra
Imperial Masterpiece
I agree with above except for the word always. I rarely think a flash is better than ambient light but here I really believe that the flash picture evokes a better "mood". Definitely more "artsy" it looks like a fine painting. The grain in the wood base and texture of the wall is softer. Having the natural picture larger than the flash picture gives the natural one a visual advantage. I feel that you should have made them the same and preferably side by side rather than stacked for this comparison. Top picture looks ready to frame and bottom picture looks like a fine photograph.
Really nice job.
Cadillactaste
Neagari Gal
Good points. I may have stood farther away from the tree with the one. Unsure why one photo is larger honestly.
if you want to make the better picture, think about the focus too, some stems seem to be much better in focus then leaves closer or further away, while this effect is appealing in some cases, in this picture its not. A smaller aperture setting on your camera can change this. Perhaps the camera took the wall as focus point here, it Looks a bit like that. Make sure the focus is on the tree
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
Without the wall. It's a tad too glossy I reckon.
Sorce
Sorce
Cadillactaste
Neagari Gal
Traken
Shohin
It IS a cool pot, though.shows what I was looking at. The pot.
I'm not sure what sort of camera you're using, but something else that can be considered, is bouncing the flash off of another surface (ceiling, a white board/card, a wall) rather than pointing it directly at the subject matter. That can soften the light given off and provide more of an accent light, rather than a harsh blast.
just.wing.it
Deadwood Head
If the wall was flat instead of glossy....well, I like both.
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
coh
Imperial Masterpiece
I'm not sure which I prefer. I think overall the color of the foliage is represented better in the non-flash photo, but I find the bright spot on the wall very distracting in that photo.
So I think the photo could be improved by a few steps:
1) Different/less reflective background.
2) Using a tripod to steady the camera (this would also standardize the view between photos, as long as you don't change the zoom level).
3) Experimenting with aperture/shutter speed as others have noted to help with depth of field.
Your ability to adjust the settings depends on the type of camera, many don't allow much user control.
You could also do some post-photo editing if you have software. It might turn out that the flash photo could be improved by adjusting the brightness/contrast.
FWIW, I find fall color to be one of the hardest things to get right in photos like this; often the foliage comes out too dark and if you try to lighten it with an editor you often lose some of the saturation/brilliance. So I usually take several photos, with different lighting, different background (dark vs light), and still usually wind up having to edit the images afterwards.
So I think the photo could be improved by a few steps:
1) Different/less reflective background.
2) Using a tripod to steady the camera (this would also standardize the view between photos, as long as you don't change the zoom level).
3) Experimenting with aperture/shutter speed as others have noted to help with depth of field.
Your ability to adjust the settings depends on the type of camera, many don't allow much user control.
You could also do some post-photo editing if you have software. It might turn out that the flash photo could be improved by adjusting the brightness/contrast.
FWIW, I find fall color to be one of the hardest things to get right in photos like this; often the foliage comes out too dark and if you try to lighten it with an editor you often lose some of the saturation/brilliance. So I usually take several photos, with different lighting, different background (dark vs light), and still usually wind up having to edit the images afterwards.
Cadillactaste
Neagari Gal
I have intentions of adding a pull down blind in the greenhouse for background intentions. But this year I've done a lot of tweaks to indoors and outdoors wintering. So that's not high priority right now. Maybe spring. Loading a video of tree to YouTube so you can see the deep fall colors that as you say are hard to photograph.
Cadillactaste
Neagari Gal
So ones can see the photo without the flash is closer to actual tree. 
I'm no photographer. But do love the fall colors.
I'm no photographer. But do love the fall colors.
Traken
Shohin
I love the zoom in on the pot, too. haha. 
Cadillactaste
Neagari Gal
I love the fall colors...but the pot comboI love the zoom in on the pot, too. haha.
made that purchase myself...buying from Japan. Had to not only change language but also font size. Huge headache...when not being home when third party shipping needed a few ends tied up. In another country with all my passwords and links to font size and sites I used to change everything back home. But got it figured out in the end. So yeah...love all the pot stands for. An accomplishment...
barrosinc
Masterpiece
the one without flash, but the wall is in focus instead of the plant.
Cadillactaste
Neagari Gal
I focused on the pot. It's quite in focus.