A dance with an amaryllis

[Marie Hass]

Over the past weeks, I have been learning the dance...of lighting distances, incidences, modifiers and what to use for lighting sources. A dance - between me and light.

One member here on CiC suggested I go back to a white background - and whether or not he knows it, he spurred my progress. Another member, Janis, is on the same journey as I am.

This is for my fellow traveler.

'Rie

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[Stagecoach]

Beautiful Marie, excellent job with the lighting !

[Mark von Kanel]

Great shot Marie, youll be on focus stacking next

[FrankMi]

I think that for a dark Amaryllis, the white or lighter background is quite fitting. It would be harder to be effective on a light colored subject.

[wilgk]

Wonderful job, the texture & delicate structure of the subject have been captured & conveyed in a fantastic result.

[selig1656]

Really nicely done, very clean , crisp and good choice in the background that totally enhances the details of the subject matter.Did you use a fill flash or shot without flash? What were your settings ?What was your main source of lighting?Thank you for the enjoyable view.

[KimC]

This is just gorgeous Marie! The transparency is beautiful!

[Marie Hass]

John,

as always, thank you for your comments.

Roll down past my comments. I re-did the same flower in black.

'Rie

[Marie Hass]

Grahame,

I still have my 2 broken cast off stands and 2 lowly painter's clip-on lights. In my search for decent lights, I have moved from tungsten, to fluorscent to halogen. None provided enough power to bring the backgrounds to up to decent levels - nor did they provide the right white balance. I finally sprung for LED daylight lights. They are perfect.

PS. Roll down past my comments. I re-did the same flower in black.

'Rie

[Marie Hass]

Mark,

Yep.

Just FJY, roll down past my comments. I re-did the same flower in black.

'Rie

[Marie Hass]

Dear Frank,

Today has been an especially hard lesson and has opened my eyes to a lot of things. I think the color of the flower is not the issue. I am starting to think, the lighting you use and how you work with the lighting is more important?

As an exercise, just roll down past my comments. I re-did the same flower in black.

'Rie

[Marie Hass]

Kay,

Today has truly been a dance. Forward with the lights, backwards, right, left. Flash - up, down in circular motion (well, it felt like it).After each move, snap. Discuss with my mentor. And continue. The image I posted was the end result.

PS Roll down past my comments. I re-did the same flower in black.

I don't mind if anyone critiques. I am happy.

'Rie

[Marie Hass]

Raymond!

Welcome to CiC!

My settings were ISO 100, 0.3seconds, F16, 50mm. I used a tripod.

I am doing lighting on a budget as I am very poor.

I shot with a flash. I use a Speedlite. I also had one continuous LED light. My background is a 3 fold presentation board.

'Rie

[Marie Hass]

Dear Kim,

Thank you. It was a lot of hard work, but very exciting.

Roll down past my comments. I re-did the same flower in black.

'Rie

[Marie Hass]

Okay!!!! Christmas came after Christmas!!!!!

I had purchased some used soft boxes from my mentor and they came!!!!! It has been so difficult controlling shadows and then, just that quickly, no trouble.

So, here is my dance with a black background.



c&c welcome.

'Rie

[NorthernFocus]

Two completely different images. Really nice to see the direct comparison. I'm not going to comment on my own preference (because it is irrelevant to your dance) and have no idea regarding and technical suggestions. So I'll simply say, thanks for sharing

[FrankMi]

Okay!!!! Christmas came after Christmas!!!!!

I had purchased some used soft boxes from my mentor and they came!!!!! It has been so difficult controlling shadows and then, just that quickly, no trouble.

So, here is my dance with a black background.



c&c welcome.

'Rie

Marie, when I open the images in Lightbox and use the arrows I can see that it is much more than just the background that has changed. The whites in the pedals have gone yellow and the blossoms are darker. I know you are working your experience with lighting but I feel the lighting on the first was better, or at least brighter.

[Marie Hass]

Thanks, Frank!

I value your opinion. I have had a look at both of these images and I believe you may be right. I will check color temperature on the white balance and see what I get.

'Rie

[Marie Hass]

For Frank.

Thanks for the eagle eye. I was tired last night and was too cross-eyed to see straight!

Do you prefer this rendition?

'Rie