Half 'n Half

[FrankMi]

The Amaryllis Half 'n Half is now in bloom! I hope you didn't think that this was a picture of coffee creamer!

I have been experimenting with background Bleeds using the Color Picker in CS5 to select the color. I started with a darker red at first, then changed to a more muted pink. I'm not sure if I like the way it turned out.



What are your feelings about the background?

Once I completed the post processing, I thought I'd try a view that doesn't include any background at all so I zoomed in on just the center of the blossom.



Which works best? Close-up or full blossom? Any suggestions for changes?

Hi Marie. I have noticed that the Half 'n Half and Clown look almost identical. Do you know if they are the same strain of Amaryllis with two different names?

[Shadowman]

I like the background, it's not something you'd expect with this type of image.

[deetheturk]

Hi Frank, lovely images, its #1 for me

[ShaneS]

I like both Frank and would love to see #2 in black & white as the pollen on the stamens gets a bit lost for me due to their muted green color. I think that the dramatic lines of the petals and stamen would just pop in mono.

[pnodrog]

I prefer the first but would be interested in seeing it with the background a little less saturated so that it is not competing with the flower as much.

[Bobobird]

Excellent work as usual and the pp is perfection as usual.

How do you prevent bleeding into the subject as is usually the case with me hence seldom tried.

[Paniaa]

I like both shots - did you try the pale chartreuse as a background?

[bnnrcn]

I like both images Frank I thought the same thing about the BG as Pania did, when I saw the image first.

[FrankMi]

I like the background, it's not something you'd expect with this type of image.

Thanks John. I like trying different approaches. Sometimes they work and sometimes not so much. With the excellent feedback here I am learning the differences and how to improve.

[FrankMi]

Hi Frank, lovely images, its #1 for me

Much appreciated David! Although I like the detail presented in the close-up, it seems that the full blossom has more appeal so I'll concentrate on that. Thanks!

[FrankMi]

I like both Frank and would love to see #2 in black & white as the pollen on the stamens gets a bit lost for me due to their muted green color. I think that the dramatic lines of the petals and stamen would just pop in mono.

An astute observation about the stamen getting lost owing to the similarity in color with the background Shane. I'll need to check for that next time I'm shooting a similar scene. Great point! Please feel free to give Mono a try if you think it would help!

[FrankMi]

I prefer the first but would be interested in seeing it with the background a little less saturated so that it is not competing with the flower as much.

Colour selection and saturation are two of the things I am still trying to get a handle on. When I tried various shades of colour from the pedals I found that solid white was flat but solid black really made the blossom pop. In another image, blue behind a mostly white blossom worked quite well. When I tried the green from the inside of the blossom it looked just sick!

I suspect that getting the right (complementary?) colour would work better but you are correct, I need to find the right level of saturation as well. Thank you for your insight Paul! It is much appreciated.

[FrankMi]

Excellent work as usual and the pp is perfection as usual.

How do you prevent bleeding into the subject as is usually the case with me hence seldom tried.

Hi Bobo! In a subject that has a clear-cut separation from the background it is fairly easy to do a Selection to Mask the subject and simply replace the background using Layers. Here is the original SOOC prior to masking:



Behind the blossom you can see the desk lamp I used to back-light the pedals and part of my high-tech studio (the kitchen ceiling!).

In this case, the replacement background is comprised of two new blank layers using a white fill on one and a pink fill on the other and a diamond gradient mask to create the bleed between the colors. The process is described in this post.

Sometimes I use an actual image when replacing the background, such as when I want to replace a dull sky with a more interesting one. Sometimes I'll see that the background flat out destroys the image so I'll shoot a different background, usually at the same location as the original, to be replaced in post processing but the steps are pretty much the same.

[chauncey]

Frank, you and I are facing the same conundrum, in that we can cough out technically perfect flower pictures worthy of display on a seed packet. I keep asking myself, "How can I do better, make them
more photogenic". I'm starting to think that altering the depth of field may be a starting point.
If you find a solution, I do hope that you would share it.

[Otavio]

Frank, very nice textures, great DoF control and I think the background works perfectly well for this subject. #1 for me. Very nice job!

[FrankMi]

I like both shots - did you try the pale chartreuse as a background?

Hi Paniaa and Binnur. I did unsuccessfully try to use a similar shade of green based on what was in the throat of the blossom. If you would like, please feel free to change the background to the colour and saturation you are thinking of and posting your results. I'd love to get examples of what others feel would improve the image.

[vaez]

hi frank ilike first but both of them well done

[FrankMi]

Frank, you and I are facing the same conundrum, in that we can cough out technically perfect flower pictures worthy of display on a seed packet. I keep asking myself, "How can I do better, make them
more photogenic". I'm starting to think that altering the depth of field may be a starting point.
If you find a solution, I do hope that you would share it.

LOL! It appears that we think alike William! Fortunately, if anyone can provide pointers to a better image, it is the folks here at CiC! Used judiciously, increased DoF can help, but only to a point. Determining that point can be tricky at times. In an image like this I will often use Focus Stacking to control the specific points where the DoF starts and ends.

[FrankMi]

Frank, very nice textures, great DoF control and I think the background works perfectly well for this subject. #1 for me. Very nice job!

Your vote of confidence warms my heart Otávio.

[FrankMi]

hi frank ilike first but both of them well done

I truly appreciate your viewing and taking the time to comment, Vaez!