Flowers & Seashells

[DickyOZ]

Simply stunning - I am in awe.

Dicky.

[Ziggy]

Very enjoyable series.

[mknittle]

super lighting Tony.

[rachel]

I keep coming back to look at these again, they're absolutely amazing!

[Tony Britton]

I hope you enjoy these!

[Loose Canon]

Awesome stuff Tony!

Very well done all around.

[Tony Britton]

Great images Tony, it is really enjoyable to watch them

Thank you very much, Binnur.

Tony

[Tony Britton]

Well done! Lovely images - all of them...

Thanks, Richard.

Tony

[Tony Britton]

Beautiful set, outstanding!

Dave

Glad you like them, Dave.

Tony

[Tony Britton]

Very dramatic captures.

Thanks very much, John.

Tony

[Tony Britton]

I think these are superb. I love shells and flowers and there is much to inspire here. I wonder how you lit them?

Dave

Thank you, Dave. Here's how I create these photographs.

I usually hand-hold a high lumen flashlight to light my seashells. For my "illuminated" seashell shots I place the shell over a hole in the foam core and light the shell from underneath. Of course, this only works with "thin walled" shells. I place the seashells on a small mirror, then the mirror on the foam core to achieve the wonderful reflection style images.

A critical factor is finding the best angle from which to light the subject. For a polished seashell it can take a few attempts to minimize "hot spot" reflections on the shell from the light source. Beyond that particular concern, I simply position the light source at the angle that produces the most dramatic effect. I rarely hold the light source directly above the seashell, for example. Also, finding the best angle helps prevent the black foam core from being detected. Even if the foam core appears in the initial capture, that can easily be corrected in post by decreasing the "Levels." This style of "side-lighting" of the subject is how I use natural sunlight to begin the process of creating many of my bird photographs featuring a black background. Working with early morning or late afternoon sunlight, in this case.

I use a tripod and Macro Mode and enable the 10 second self-timer, which allows me enough time to move the light source into different positions until I see the desired effect I want in the LCD. If I'm using my Canon SX50 then I'll temporarily DEACTIVATE the Image-Stabilization, which is recommended in the manual when using a tripod. I just have to remember to activate it before I go back to my preferred bird photography!

With the desired result achieved, these types of photos can convey a sense of "studio" shots, suggesting the use of exotic lighting equipment yet in fact, these photos were taken on either a card table or on my kitchen counter top! And the room needn't be terribly dark to create these types of images. Fast shutter speeds and high aperture values along with generous amounts of negative Exposure Compensation provide enough reduction in ambient light to make that so.

During post-processing the tool I use the most is "Levels." I decrease the levels until the black foam core goes completely black. I don't do these black foam core projects too often so if the seashells have been on display and the foam core stored away, be extra sure they're completely dust-free. Since these are lighted macro shots every flaw or speck of dust will be captured!

Now, that't the short answer!

Tony

[Tony Britton]

Simply stunning - I am in awe.

Dicky.

Thanks very much, Richard.

Tony

[Tony Britton]

Very enjoyable series.

Much appreciated, Jim.

Tony

[Tony Britton]

super lighting Tony.

Hi Mark. The lighting is the most enjoyable part of these types of indoor projects. Yet, they were inspired from outdoors. I really love astronomy and with the seashells I wanted to create images that had the appearance of a planet or the moon, for example, appearing to emerge from the blackness of outer space. If I get it right, there's very nearly a three dimensional result to the image. Well, at least I try!

Tony

[Tony Britton]

I keep coming back to look at these again, they're absolutely amazing!

Thank you very much, Rachel.

Tony

[IzzieK]

'Cannot think of anymore superlatives to describe your shots...a very inspiring method has been unleashed here. #3 in the first batch is very nice as one scrolls down to see the rest of the flower. It almost animates itself even if it is a still shot. The same with Post #15 batch -- my favourite there is the second shot for the same reason.

It will be nice if you number your images as posted so that I do not have to go back to find what I like...or even just to view again...thanks.

Also thanks for the explanation of how you did your images.

[Tony Britton]

Awesome stuff Tony!

Very well done all around.

Thank you, Terry.

Tony

[DanK]

I agree; some stunning images.

Thanks for posting your methods. I was going to ask how you illuminate them.

Re postprocessing: I do a lot of flowers against black backgrounds, and I often run into a problem you noted: depending on the angle, the light may fall on the background. I too use levels to deal with this, but with an extra step that you might find useful. I first create a selection of the background, which is usually very easy to do unless the object has nearly-black areas. I just select by color and, if necessary, adjust the 'fuzziness' until the selection is right. Occasionally the selection needs some manual adjustment, but often not. Then, with the selection active, I start a levels adjustment layer. At least in photoshop, that automatically loads the selection on the base layer as a mask on the levels adjustment layer. They you can darken as much as you want while affecting only the background.

[Tony Britton]

'Cannot think of anymore superlatives to describe your shots...a very inspiring method has been unleashed here. #3 in the first batch is very nice as one scrolls down to see the rest of the flower. It almost animates itself even if it is a still shot. The same with Post #15 batch -- my favourite there is the second shot for the same reason.

It will be nice if you number your images as posted so that I do not have to go back to find what I like...or even just to view again...thanks.

Also thanks for the explanation of how you did your images.

Hi Izzie,

I really appreciate your kind comments. I'm so glad you like these images and hope the explanation proves helpful should you decide to give it a go. With regard to the numbering of my images, I viewed the first page and as I click on any of the images, it informs me as to which image I'm viewing, say, image "3 of 10" with the total amount of images represented per page. I'm still trying to get the hang of this site, so do you mean providing a number above the image as if the number were the "title" of the image?

Here's an example:

1.

[Tony Britton]

I agree; some stunning images.

Thanks for posting your methods. I was going to ask how you illuminate them.

Re postprocessing: I do a lot of flowers against black backgrounds, and I often run into a problem you noted: depending on the angle, the light may fall on the background. I too use levels to deal with this, but with an extra step that you might find useful. I first create a selection of the background, which is usually very easy to do unless the object has nearly-black areas. I just select by color and, if necessary, adjust the 'fuzziness' until the selection is right. Occasionally the selection needs some manual adjustment, but often not. Then, with the selection active, I start a levels adjustment layer. At least in photoshop, that automatically loads the selection on the base layer as a mask on the levels adjustment layer. They you can darken as much as you want while affecting only the background.

Hi Dan,

Thanks for this excellent information that I and the others here will surely benefit from. I hope those viewing this response take time to visit your website. Truly superb work that should not be missed.

Best regards,

Tony