C&c 4 c&c

[ucci]

Okay, this is about a Clivia and a Cactus for C and C please.
Thanks to those who viewed and to those who took the time to comment.
Cheers
Ken

[shreds]

With the first shot, which is beautiful I might add, the leaves take my eye out of shot, particularly the one at the top. Might a closer crop, contain the eye better? I have taken the liberty of trying to show what I had in mind here:-



hope you dont mind?

The bokeh on this shot is excellent, given that the stamens and adjacent flowers are all competing for attention and your focussing is spot on. Maybe more even lighting on the background might help even more?

No 2:- The background distracts me on this one, even though there is the need for a lighter background.

[dje]

Nice one old ucci, I like the first one in particular. And Ian's crop is a good move I think.

Cheers Dave

[ucci]

With the first shot, which is beautiful I might add, the leaves take my eye out of shot, particularly the one at the top. Might a closer crop, contain the eye better? I have taken the liberty of trying to show what I had in mind here:-



hope you dont mind?

The bokeh on this shot is excellent, given that the stamens and adjacent flowers are all competing for attention and your focussing is spot on. Maybe more even lighting on the background might help even more?

No 2:- The background distracts me on this one, even though there is the need for a lighter background.

Of course I don't mind. I posted to learn from other's advice. And I have. Thank you for your help. Much appreciated.
Ken

[ucci]

Nice one old ucci, I like the first one in particular. And Ian's crop is a good move I think.

Cheers Dave

Thanks for viewing and commenting Dave. The first one is one of my early attempts at HDR. As for the second shot, the background was an old sheet over a window which unfortunately seems to have let too much back light through. Should have paid more attention here.
old ucci

[FrankMi]

I love the first one, Ken, particularly with Ian's crop. There is nothing I can see in the image that tells me that it was processed as an HDR, which is good in my opinion as the processing should not be more obvious than the image.

I am curious though, can you tell me what aspect of HDR did you employ to complete the image? Thanks!

[ktuli]

Ken,

If you're going to go with Ian's crop on #1, I'd actually recommend a rotation first... maybe in the realm of about 5 degrees clockwise. Either straighten the leaves and stem at the bottom or balance out the space above the two flowers and the top of the frame.

Nice work on the HDR though - as Frank says, I can't notice it, which means you did it right!

- Bill

[Bobobird]

Unobtrusive HDR, I like that.

[shreds]

Unobtrusive HDR, I like that.

In my view, the only way to do HDR.

[ucci]

I love the first one, Ken, particularly with Ian's crop. There is nothing I can see in the image that tells me that it was processed as an HDR, which is good in my opinion as the processing should not be more obvious than the image.

I am curious though, can you tell me what aspect of HDR did you employ to complete the image? Thanks!

Hi Frank
Sorry, I don't think I quite understand the question. If it helps. What I did was to use the Photoshop HDR filter (under image - automate menu ) then convert from a 32 back to 16 bit and use the sliders in photoshop's raw data programme to get desired result. Mainly the camera setting, exposure, black light and contrast. Then I opened the file in photoshop and added a touch of the unsharp filter to finish off.
Being no expert in this sort of stuff it was pretty much trial and error with settings to get my final result.

[Ricco]

Ken - I have to say I don't like the backgrounds. Although this is just an opinion, I don't think they add to the pictures. I would have preferred a pure black or pure white.

[FrankMi]

Hi Frank
Sorry, I don't think I quite understand the question. If it helps. What I did was to use the Photoshop HDR filter (under image - automate menu ) then convert from a 32 back to 16 bit and use the sliders in photoshop's raw data programme to get desired result. Mainly the camera setting, exposure, black light and contrast. Then I opened the file in photoshop and added a touch of the unsharp filter to finish off.
Being no expert in this sort of stuff it was pretty much trial and error with settings to get my final result.

Yes, that is what I was asking. Thank you, Ken. There are a lot of different techniques one can use and I was just curious what approach you took. I've never done single image tonemapping in Photoshop so it was good to link a result back to a process.

[ucci]

Ken - I have to say I don't like the backgrounds. Although this is just an opinion, I don't think they add to the pictures. I would have preferred a pure black or pure white.

Thanks for comment Peter. Your point is well taken. Have to admit to attention deficit here. I was so busy concentrating on getting HDR thingy right I forgot all about the backgrounds! However, next time.....