Bursting at the Seams

[FrankMi]

I am trying my hand at shooting and PP flowers. Not sure what this one is but I liked the colors and the fact that the buds don't stand on a stalk as most flowers do. It's a tad out of focus so hopefully I can learn some sharpening techniques. I am also trying to learn layers and masking techniques in PS. Any C & C is warmly welcomed.

[jiro]

Nice colors, Frank. Maybe a bit saturated for me. The orientation of the flower (pointing downward) seems to be a bit unique and different. If this is my shot I would probably extract the flower and the buds then orient it upward then rotate it a little bit. I would then clean up the background then further blur it a little bit for more separation from the main subject. Just an idea from a guy with too much coffee in the morning. Hehehe. What kind of flower is this if I may ask?

[rob marshall]

It's a Fuchsia.

I like the way you have captured the flower, but not sure about the background. What aperture was it? It looks very slightly bright on my monitor.

[Steve S]

Hi frank, it is indeed a fuchsia. I just photographed one a couple weeks ago..............................




I was also having trouble isolating it from the background, so i clipped a nice cluster and hung it in a place with a suitable background. In my case, the background was a row of pine trees about 20 feet behind the flower. It's important you leave enough space between the flower and background, because you'll need a small aperature to get it in focus. I shot at f/11 and 420mm (i don't have a macro lens so i use my 300mm or 300 + 1.4TC) The space between the flower and background allowed me to get a good blur at f/11. Also , shooting flowers is best done in very soft light of morning or evening, or on a cloudy day. Hope this helps.

[FrankMi]

Nice colors, Frank. Maybe a bit saturated for me. The orientation of the flower (pointing downward) seems to be a bit unique and different. If this is my shot I would probably extract the flower and the buds then orient it upward then rotate it a little bit. I would then clean up the background then further blur it a little bit for more separation from the main subject. Just an idea from a guy with too much coffee in the morning. Hehehe. What kind of flower is this if I may ask?

Thank you for the comments! I started again. This time I toned down the saturation a bit and replaced the background with some darkened foliage. The flower is a Blue Eyes Fuchsia so I am told. The brown background in the original was the pot the flowers are planted in. I used Puppet Warp and added a bit of Transform to make the subject narrow and cocked slightly to fit a Portrait orientation. I like the way you add a border on your shots so I thought I'd try to see what that entails as well. Any better?

[FrankMi]

It's a Fuchsia.

I like the way you have captured the flower, but not sure about the background. What aperture was it? It looks very slightly bright on my monitor.

Hi Rob, It was F/5 at 1/25th hand held. I was in a nursery and couldn't set up a tripod. The picture I found on Wikipedia was quite bright as well but I toned this one down a bit.

Here is the untouched (except to reduce the size) shot from Wikipedia.

[FrankMi]

Hi Steve, I really like the way you set the flower up dangling from it's vine! Thanks for the shooting tips!

[Steve S]

Your second shot is much better frank. If you give more room between the flower and background, you will get a smooth blur with will make the flower stand out more.

[FrankMi]

Thank you. I like it better as well with the tips that you, Rob, and Willie have been kind enough to provide. I'll be looking for that opportunity! Thanks Steve!

[Geoff F]

If you want to improve your masking and layers skill, Frank, have a good read of the information here http://www.ronbigelow.com/articles/articles.htm

The only suggestion I would add is that it is often necessary to remove a few stray leaves or flower buds to get a good clean image, including background. Although garden centres aren't always sympathetic.

[FrankMi]

Wow Geoff, that looks like an excellent read and a lot of great stuff! It'll take some time to absorb but it looks like it will be well worth the effort. Thanks!