Amaryllis 2015

[mknittle]

Rudi,

I did turn, but also made the mistake of trying manual focus. Since I do not see well to begin with, all of the pictures were blurry.

Hopefully, I wll have the time to shoot again, tonight.

'Rie

If you are using a tripod. you may be able to manual focus in live view then switch back. It has worked for me at times

[Marie Hass]

Hi, Mark!!!

I was using a tripod and did the manual focus thing. I even magnified the image area so i could achieve better focus. Every single picture is just.....off by maybe a tiny fraction. Frustrating.

'Rie

[Marie Hass]

Maybe something like this? I made one of these in my basement in a few hours. Fun.

Downrigger Mark, were you going to leave me a picture? Or was it too dark down there for me to see? LOLS.

'Rie

[Marie Hass]

...you might consider a lighting setup like mine.

Dan, I have seen this setup before - I think you even posted it on my Amaryllis 2014 thread. I must have paid it no attention, and for that I am sorry. Your example picture did it for me - I am ready to listen. There are no harsh (flash or lighting) shadows, and i like that.

I think you may make me cave in to developing a studio yet. Thank you for posting.

'Rie

[Marie Hass]

Chico.

The blooms are almost spent.

Please c&c

Thanks,

'Rie

[Kaye Leggett]

Marie - I enjoyed your 2014 posts and as we move into 2015 am looking forward to more - you have a richness of flower we don't have, although we do have some lovely ones !! I love both of these, but agree, the black background is better.

[rudi]

Marie,
Both are nice, though they are almost spent.
In the second one, I like the OOF repetition. Maybe I would clone out the 'spent' petal ends in the top left/middle.

[Marie Hass]

Thanks, Kaye!

I was told that the richness of color in the blossoms is proportional to the amount of light the blooms receive, and this seems to hold true?

Almost all of my plants get plenty of direct light and I have been blessed with color.

'Rie

[Marie Hass]

Dear Rudi,

I had not considered doing that, but I should. Their presence does not add to the composition.

'Rie

[FrankMi]

Ah yes, Marie. The blackground is better. The Chico is a wispy blossom and therefore difficult to compose well.

It's always a question for me as to whether to back out and get the entire bouquet of blossoms or crop tight and accentuate just one aspect. You were wise to post both so that the relationship between them is well established and appreciated!

I am looking forward to seeing your new varieties. I think I might have a problem getting any more as we have 18 pots filling all the available window space plus a large pot with about 16 baby Amaryllis Red Lions on the breakfast table. Might either have to build a greenhouse or bring some sense of balance to The Force! LOL!

[bnnrcn]

The black BG works better

[Marie Hass]

Dear Frank,

I, too am bursting at the seams. I do not really know where I even can put the 3 that I ordered from Royal Colors. God forbid I want more, next year. The growers come out with new varieties all the time...I think I am DOOMED!

'Rie

[Marie Hass]

Hi, Binnur,

The black background is a classic and to me, usually seems to be the best choice to showcase the Amaryllis blooms. Glad you liked it.

'Rie

[IzzieK]

Dear Frank,

I, too am bursting at the seams. I do not really know where I even can put the 3 that I ordered from Royal Colors. God forbid I want more, next year. The growers come out with new varieties all the time...I think I am DOOMED!

'Rie

You should have thought about that before you indulged...LOL... (and here I am saying the same thing when I just got suckered into buying some stuffs too myself.. ​)

[Marie Hass]

Ok, Izzie - what some stuffs did we buy?

Do tell?

'Rie

[Loose Canon]

Hi Marie!

I’m not sure where you are getting the notion that flash lighting produces any more or less harshness/shadows than any other lighting, but that is certainly not the case.

It depends on what/how you use it same as with continuous and a long exposure.

Continuous is cumulative at long exposures and is hugely harder to control at long shutters directionally than a nicely diffused burst at a nicely short shutter! Not to mention harder to evaluate and adjust. It will cause just as much harsh shadow as any other lighting.

Less chance of artifact, noise, and way more control with flash! Plus you can have the added advantage of stopping motion. Not so with continuous lighting and long exposure.

This shot was four flashes (and not that you need that many to start your studio) lighting an object way smaller/glossier and close up than your beautiful Amaryllis and all four were fired at the same time within the space of about 16” distance or less of each other. I would bet that there might be as much detail in the watch that needed to be addressed as with your beautiful plant. The lighting brings the detail.

Nothing against continuous lighting Marie, but the statement of overly harsh shadows and hot spots with flash doesn’t fly.



The reason you are not getting detail like you would like is of course a function of the lighting. You obviously recognize this. What you are missing is directional lighting.

Take a shot of the Amaryllis in generic ambient (continuous) lighting that merely floods the scene, and you will get a generic shot. Same as any other ambient flooded scene (say an outside shot in sunlight or a cloudy day). Cool, but from what I have seen of your posts not what you are looking for.

Take a shot of it in controlled (meaning you control it) lighting and you are the boss and you call the shots of how you bring the details/luminance/shadow out of your beautiful Amaryllis. So if you are looking at continuous then cool, but look at ways to control it rather than flood it. That will make the difference and get you to what you are already seeing in your Mind's Eye.

Just as an aside?

There is an axiom in studio product photography. And remember axioms are ambiguous!

But it goes something like this: The more expensive and glamorous the subject, the darker the background should be! This is of course an axiom and doesn’t always ring true for sure!

But your shot on black is bangin’ compared to the white BG Marie!

[Rebel]

I wonder how this will look like with a black background? The white is almost too blinding for my eyes...btw, it is my eyes, not your shot's fault...

+1 to this, I think a black background would work a lot better.

[Marie Hass]

Thank you, Terry!!!!

I really appreciate the push into the water!!!! LOLS!

I am starting to gather (to use Izzie's word) "stuffs" for a small studio. I already have a small umbrella. And I did find 2 stands that someone gave me. Both need repair.

After I get my taxes back, I wll probably go with a basic lighting setup from Alien Bees.

I cleaned my office this weekend - one could not have even walked in there before. It is a very small room, but i am hoping I can build my table top studio in there. that way, i can shoot tethered to my desktop computer. I like it better than my laptop. In the meantime, I may just have to try clip on painter's lights - I do have them.

'Rie

[Marie Hass]

Matt,

thanks for looking and responding.

You are right. Black backgrounds are definately classic.

'Rie

[IzzieK]

'Rie...for some of my accessory stands I collected some old tripods from the yonder days before digital. Bill also bought me a used good tripod for $20 (Vivitar) exactly what I lent my stepson when he was taking up photography as an elective in university. Good for flash I should say...you know, little things that will matter later on. I converted the old tripod into a reflector holder. Pretty good if I may say so meself...there are some good instructions in the web that I followed, plus a visit to Lowes or Home Depot for the clamp.

Hey! cleaning your office space is a big step...like clearing up your wardrobe every so often once a year -- makes me feel good to be able to give away some clothes to the needy. I do not appreciate the follow-up junk call that resulted from it though...

Thank you, Terry!!!!

I really appreciate the push into the water!!!! LOLS!

I am starting to gather (to use Izzie's word) "stuffs" for a small studio. I already have a small umbrella. And I did find 2 stands that someone gave me. Both need repair.

After I get my taxes back, I wll probably go with a basic lighting setup from Alien Bees.

I cleaned my office this weekend - one could not have even walked in there before. It is a very small room, but i am hoping I can build my table top studio in there. that way, i can shoot tethered to my desktop computer. I like it better than my laptop. In the meantime, I may just have to try clip on painter's lights - I do have them.

'Rie