Tulip Mania

[purplehaze]

What a long hard winter leads to.

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6


#7


My goal today was to work on my focus technique and play with light and depth of field. Some of my shooting was on the tripod (manual focus) and some was handheld (auto). Most was with natural light, with occasional fill from a small reflector, but I also shot a bit of flash (SB200s + diffusers on the end of the macro). C&C welcome.

[IzzieK]

All of these are nice but #2 and 3 are nice with their backlights. How did you do that?! My tulips are just starting to show its head so I am watching them like a hawk at the bottom of the deck so the doggies doesn't trample on them...the ones outside the gate and the side front garden might survive the dogs so I will wait with bated breath wanting to photograph them when they flower.

But then, come to think of it your weather is colder than ours here, how come you already have tulips??? just asking...

[purplehaze]

All of these are nice but #2 and 3 are nice with their backlights. How did you do that?!

Hi Izzie,

Both flowers were shoot indoors in full sun; I stood in front of #2 (facing the sun) and bounced the sunlight into the middle of the blossom with a 12" silver reflector. (Edit: I should add that it was shot landscape; I just turned it 90 degrees in post.) For #3, I was standing at a 90 degree angle to the sun, which was raking across the back of the flower. I was at f/8 and -2.0 exposure compensation to save the highlights, which made for a fast enough shutter speed to plunge everything else into darkness.

But then, come to think of it your weather is colder than ours here, how come you already have tulips??? just asking...

Because this winter has laid me so low, I have been buying cut flowers at the supermarket. But I don't regret. Today was very therapeutic.

[Stagecoach]

Janis,

I think you have done extremely well with both focus and DoF and it is as I would hope to see in images such as these. The lighting is good with no obvious strong shadow.

The colour difference of the anthers(?) I assume is due to the different lighting?

Very nice series and I especially like No 5.

Grahame

[bnnrcn]

Janis,they are marvellous

[purplehaze]

Thank you, Grahame and Binnur. Glad you like them.

Grahame, I had the camera on auto white balance and it gave me differing results. I "corrected" some of the images with blue anthers using different techniques (to make them more brown), but some I didn't correct because I liked the other colours the way they were. I wasn't looking to make a series, where consistency was important, but just dabble, for the learning experience, and makes some pretty colour pictures, because I am so tired of looking at ice and snow.

[deetheturk]

Hi Janis,beautiful set of images,well captured!

David

[Downrigger]

Beautiful series. Hard to pick (a) favorite(s). Can see how they helped you feel better.

[Shadowman]

Nice, number five stands out the most.

[Kyle]

Great series. 6 and 3 are my favourites.

[Brownbear]

For me.. Images 5 & 6 are especially beautiful (colours, light, composition) - stunning!

[purplehaze]

Thanks, guys. Kyle and Christina, I am glad you mentioned #6 as I think that may be my favorite so far. Though I am thinking of playing with it some more, maybe bringing out more structure, if possible.

When I said "mania", I meant it; I think I may need an intervention as I can't seem to stop processing these.

This has been getting the most hits on Flickr, so I should maybe include it:

#8


I prefer this one, but for the messy lower right, which I may deal with when I learn Photoshop.

#9


I think this may be my most successful capture, DOF-wise:
#10


This is kind of fun:
#11


And finally another take on the fire pit flower:
#12


I know they are not perfect; if you see something you think needs fixing, let me know. Meanwhile, I will try to finally turn my attention to my many chores. Thanks for looking.

[Downrigger]

More beauties. I am most struck by the glow you are getting in your backlit versions.
I'm no horticulturalist but I am wondering at the pollen - it looks to me as thought these are busy pollinating themselves, but I all I read suggests that insects (bees mostly) do the pollinating for tulips, so between what I think I see and what I read, I feel I am missing something.

[Brownbear]

Yes, more beauties. Of these #10 is my favourite for the unique composition, DOF and just because I think it is gorgeous. Followed by #11. So 5,6, 10 and 11 are my favourites from all these beauties.

[purplehaze]

I am wondering at the pollen

Hi Mark, I was surprised at how soon they started dropping their pollen, but they are cut flowers, so I suspect it is part of the decay. Plus they are sitting on an oak table that sits on an old hardwood floor and so they vibrate a lot. This was part of yesterday's exercise--waiting for everything to settle and squeezing the shutter without shifting my weight, which would cause tripod and table and flower petals to go all aflutter again.

[ShaneS]

Photographing spring flowers is a very nice way to spend a cold afternoon Janis! I love your experimentation with various compositions and light and find it resulting images to be very interesting. #5 really stands out for me.

Keep on playing

[Wavelength]

What an excellent series/study of a flower....really adorable

[Ken Curtis]

Ya done good, Janis! I'm envious.

[Marie Hass]

Nice, Jan.

3, 9 and 12 are my favorites.

Well done.

Marie

[IzzieK]

Janis...try getting a remote so you won't have any problems with a-fluttering and a-moving in shots. They are not that expensive and a good help with tripod-based shots. Just my opinion.