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banmorn


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Camera: Nikon D70s
Lens: Sigma 50mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro for Nikon
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Date: Aug 30, 2007
Aperture: f/ 9.5
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/90 sec.
Galleries: Black and White, Floral
Date Uploaded: Sep 2, 2007

Viewed: 676
Comments: 18
Favorites: 3 (view)

 Two french tulips and several strands of bear grass. I did another one of these a while ( ) back and I actually had someone want to use it for a wedding...it never worked out but it was a nice idea so I thought I try it again.

There is a French tulip story. Sometime ago, I went to my main regular florists, Pure Design. Michael had French tulips. So I got a couple. I went later the same day or weekend to another florist and somehow or other Pure Design came up and I told the other florist that I got French tulips there. Well his face dropped and he was either jealous or envious and he said, hissingly,"He has the French tulips?" Well I had a fit and told Michael about it the next time I saw him and he burst out laughing. So now, when ever Michael has the French tulips, we both say "You have the French tulips?". Guess you had to be there...still works for us though. :)

_______________________________________

Lighting and processing:

A very nice query from Joe lowcivicman99 .

For lighting in my mini studio, I have 4 clamp lamps. Two each have a 100w halogen bulb and are attached to white poster boards above the shooting area and the other two each have a 150w halogen bulb are are attached to the base of the shooting area. I move these as necessary for optimal lighting of the subject(s). The top two on the poster have more mobility as I can attach them around a 180° perimeter of the sides and front of the poster board. The bottom two are a bit more limited and can just be move from the front to back of the sides of the shooting area.

I have a piece of black velvet hung on the back of the shooting area. It is always there (and still needs replacement....someday soon, I think).

I try to keep the subject as far away from the backdrop as possible and also keep the light off of it. This is not always possible as the shooting area size just will not allow it. Particularly the 12" depth of the area.

Setting the black point in levels helps this and I pick a point near the subject since the black is often brighter there. Also, you can check the brightest black area by doing invert and see if there are any dark points in the background and setting the black point there to get the darkest black (there was none in the inversion of this, I just checked and the background was very uninform).

Also in this after my initial processing (adjustment layers for levels, brightness/contrast and hue/saturation, another layer of hue/saturation converting to gray scale and another layer each of levels and brigthness/contrast and sharpen) I found the bear grass needed some brightening. I thought the tulips and stems were bright enough, so I masked them and did a curves adjustment on the rest of the image to brighten the grass. (Also note the majority of all my processing is done in PSElements 3.0 to which I was able to add curves, selective color and channel mixer and also has about 2 dozen plugins that I won, were free or that I have purchased. I will use Paint Shop Pro 9 from time to time as well and have an updated version of it to add to my system someday.)

The set up of this was dictated by the condition of the tulips. One of the stems of one of the tulips bent and the flower fell to the side of the stem. I used the other flower to hold it up and shot to exclude the bend in the stem. I think I also used the top two lights only positioned in the front of the shooting area. I have one piece of poster board that is parallel to the front of the base of the shooting area and another piece of poster board above it that extends about 6" beyond the base of the shooting area.

I think that is about it. If you have any other questions, or if I thouroughly confused you, let me know.
Thx.

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AuthorThread
Canon EOS-5D
Sigma 24-60mm f/2.8 EX DG for Canon
 09/05/2007 02:17:51 AM
This is just stunning, such a clean looking shot, if you know what I mean, the detail is beautiful, it has gone into my favs.....lovely.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-7D Mark II
Canon EF 24-70mm f/4.0 L IS USM Lens
 09/04/2007 09:03:19 AM
This is just me, but I think this shot would be better with a squarish crop. I really like the downward diagonal of the tulips and the grass behind them, but the stuff at the top really isn't necessary. Just MNSHO. Great notes. Thanks for sharing your technique.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
 09/04/2007 07:36:50 AM
You are definately the master when it comes to flowers.....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D80
Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5- 5.6G ED DX
 09/04/2007 07:26:12 AM
Very nicely done, I really like this composition.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D80
Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5- 5.6G ED DX
 09/03/2007 09:31:13 PM
Ok this is a definate WOW. Not usually a big fan of B&W flower shots, but ... ok let's just leave it a WOW!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM
 09/03/2007 08:43:00 PM
cool shot, I like your composition and lighting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/03/2007 05:27:22 PM
This is a great shot and the quality of your current camera helps bring out all that you were after in your previous shot.

Again - very elegant. a delightful simplicity that would take enlarging and printing out really well.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS R5
Canon RF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS USM
09/03/2007 05:22:29 PM
Although I prefer Dutch tulips :-) this is really a very nice shot. Sharp, nice contrasts, good composition. Thanks for sharing your processing story.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
 09/03/2007 04:49:32 PM
Nice simplicity! This absolutely beautiful. The black background is great!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sony DSC-W7
Nikon AF-S DX 18-105 f/3.5-5.6 ED VR
 09/03/2007 04:46:48 PM
Everything about this is perfect! Love it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 09/03/2007 04:19:15 PM
Lighting is just amazing. This is such a beautiful image, so elegant and delecate. Just perfect.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II
 09/03/2007 12:57:53 PM
Beautiful in it's simplicity! Love the lighting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D40
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6G ED
 09/03/2007 10:45:28 AM
Absolutely beautiful, nothing more to say than that!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D7100
Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM
 09/03/2007 06:55:45 AM
Great shot, white on black isn't easy to capture. You have done a great job.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-20D
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 09/03/2007 05:21:56 AM
Beautiful lighting and composition! Lovely shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-30D
Sigma 50mm f/2.8 EX Macro for Canon
 09/03/2007 12:47:36 AM
I love your flower photos, you are so good at creating so beautiful images. Great BW tones and as always unique composition.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D3s
Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
 09/02/2007 11:52:47 PM
WOW is that jsut awesome or what? What did you use for your background to get it so dark and your flower to bright. I would really like to know how this setup went. Perfect, just perfect. I love it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-7D
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro for Canon
 09/02/2007 11:46:45 PM
This has a sweetness to it. I really love it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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