Christmas cactus flower

[DanK]

I've tried a variety of ways to photograph these. This is 30 images, stacked with Zerene (primarily DMap, touched up from PMax). 100mm macro with 10mm of extension. I have another set that is from a bit farther back and includes more of the red petals, but I haven't worked on that one yet. C&C welcome, as always.

[marlunn]

impressive, and love the composition of it, thats a serious skill you have there with stacking - if i was to be uber pickie, I would have removed the pollen grains and small bright spots on top rh side on the petals but thats just me

[ashcroft]

Excellent stack. The lighting is very good too. Can't fault it!

[Geoff F]

Always a difficult subject. Every year I have a go with them but rarely seem to end up with what I had in mind.

So this has worked well.

[bnnrcn]

Very nice

[FrankMi]

Excellent! Very well done Dan!

[FootLoose]

I think this is a beautiful shot, Dan. The simplicity of the composition - just a couple of curves - has captured the essence of this flower, and your choice of a black background really highlights its intense colour.

I have to say, I am impressed with your patience in shooting and processing a stack.

[GBO25]

Excellent Dan. I like the black background which I assume is the result of exposing for the bright subject which you've very nicely composed. I've done this myself using PS Elements and hand stacking by cloning in the sharp parts of successive images onto a base image.
Did you leave the focus set and move the camera between shots or keep the camera still and incrementally change the focus? I've changed the focus when I did it and found I had to deal with focus breathing which slightly distorts successive shots.

[DanK]

Thanks, all. Since Graham asked, here is how I do shots like this:

--I have the camera mounted on a tripod, with a remote release.
--I use a black background (an old fleece jacket)
--I use continuous lighting, usually one light reflected off an umbrella and the other direct but diffused. This allows me to move the lights around until I have them as I like.
--I focus first on the nearest part of the image, using magnified live view. Working from front to back is important, because the framing gets tighter as you move forward, and you may lose some of what you want if you work from back to front.
--I then turn off live view and make small changes to the focus manually. This works fine, as long as the changes are small enough and the stacking software is good.
--I generally start closer than I think I need and continue past where I think I can stop, just to play it safe.
--I import the images into Lightroom, get rid of the surplus images from both ends, and correct white balance. (The first shot is always with a whiBal card.) I may make a few other changes as well, but I don't do much editing at this point.
--I export to Zerene using its LR plugin, selecting 16-bit TIFFs in prophoto to avoid losing information.
--I stack with DMap, PMax, or both, and retouch as necessary.
--I then move the stacked composite image(s) back into LR. Most often, I do most of the editing in LR. That was not the case with this one.
--I usually end up moving the image to Photoshop to take care of any parts of the background that are not pure black. (Select by color, turn the selection into a mask on a levels curve, and move the center point to turn the background pure black.)

In this particular case, I did all of the editing other than WB in photoshop. That entailed two or three layers for burning and dodging different areas, a curves adjustment (luminosity blend mode to avoid oversaturating the reds), and smart sharpening everything other than the end of the red stamen.

The hardest part of this is standing still enough, because the continuous lighting requires long exposures. These were f/7.1, 2.5 seconds, ISO 100. I use mirror lockup, and once the mirror is up, I stay still for a bit before (and after) tripping the shutter.

[IzzieK]

I concur with Greg's comment and I wish I have that much patience at stacking...beautiful shot....well done, Dan.

[Downrigger]

here is how I do shots like this:

Thanks for the thoughtful, detailed introduction to the technical side, which leaves out the wonderful artistic effort you applied to determining the framing, composition, and color here. Much to admire, here, Dan.

[deetheturk]

Wonderful image Dan, very well done bud!

[petercfischer]

dan, excellent job both @ capture + post stages. my further compliments to your annotation of your protocol, the step by step is exactly the type of thing we're looking for to improve our own efforts.

peter

[Brownbear]

Absolutely gorgeous! I love all of your flowers but this one especially for the framing.

[DanK]

thanks everyone