My friend Bev took me to Elaine's garden last year and we went back again this year. I shot in the garden on a day that was windy, rainy and sunny and cloudy and with the new camera and lens. Let's just say the garden pics were not the best. But Elaine last year and this, gave me flowers to take home and I shot them in the studio. At the zenith, she has dozens of irises of all colors and sizes as well as roses, clematis, peonies, poppies and other flowers.
The lighting on this was a small white LED flashlight that was hung over the shooting area. I used a preset white balance and tried the lighting set up with several flowers. This one worked the best.
Post: Converted from raw, adjusted Exposure Compensation +0.33. Layer adjustments for levels, brightness/contrast and hue/saturation. Sharpen. I healed two very small hot spots and left the others as these irises have some incandescence on the petals...IT'S NOT OVER SHARPENING OR NOISE....GOT IT....there I feel better...Ok there is noise but I left it alone and went for the detail...Resize. Sharpen.
Nikon D70s
2006/05/27 22:15:23.9
Compressed RAW (12-bit)
Image Size: Large (3008 x 2000)
Lens: 50mm F/2.8 D
Focal Length: 50mm
Exposure Mode: Manual
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
3 sec - F/19
Exposure Comp.: 0 EV
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Optimize Image: Sharp
White Balance: Preset
AF Mode: AF-S
Flash Sync Mode: Not Attached
Auto Flash Comp: 0 EV
Color Mode: Mode Ia (sRGB)
Tone Comp.: Auto
Hue Adjustment: 0°
Saturation: Normal
Sharpening: High
Image Comment:
Long Exposure NR: Off
Statistics
Place: 79 out of 238 Avg (all users): 5.8313 Avg (commenters): 6.4286 Avg (participants): 5.6056 Avg (non-participants): 5.9244 Views since voting: 1133 Views during voting: 312 Votes: 243 Comments: 8 Favorites: 0
First Impression - the most important one: I think that this is a beautiful shot ... the flower seems a little lost though.
Composition: the composition seems to be frame centred. With the main lighting definately in the middle of the shot and the flower. Its an interesting presentation of this flower, but it seems to be swimming slightly in the darkness around it and a little lost.
Subject: this meets the challenge - and does so really well .... I am amazed how much light you could get out of an LED.
Technical (Colour and light): The flower is sharp and I can make out details on the petal. The size of the photo is good, and the shot is definately in focus.
The lighting seems a little too focused on quite a small area and seems to loose a lot of the impact on the frilled edges of the flower to the darkness ...
To grow its vote?: I think this is lovely, but trying again would mean maybe a slightly larger light source (just to take in slightly more) .. perhaps a recrop to maximise the use of the rule of thirds or golden triangle.
Summary: You have the most amazing portfolio and this adds very well into that. lovely shot.
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