You don't bring me Flowers anymore.

[Colin Southern]

Hi Katy,

Bicubic sharper???????? I still only have iphoto. There's talk of photoshop for Christmas.

Ah. Sorry, but I only speak Photoshop

I tried to sort of take care of what you were mentioning with the pp that I have. Is this any better?

It doesn't look too bad, although personally I'd probably reveal a little more shadow detail around the greenery. Sharpening wise, it's still noot looking great, but at this resolution I can't tell if it's a sharpening issue or a focus / DoF issue.

How would you have handled the sheen on the pear when you shot it? Exposing for the shine? No, wait, exposing for that blown out white part on the flower. Or, something that I'm completely not getting, yet? I want to try these again.

What you're referring to are called specular highlights - they're kinda like a "direct reflection". To control (ie "eliminate them") the easiest way is to place a diffuser between the fruit and your light source. Using a CP filter would possibly help as well. There's no point trying to expose for them as everything else will be way too dark.

If you're keen, I think you'd get a lot of mileage out of Light: Science & Magic (3rd edition) - it's THE industry standard reference for learning lighting, and very well written.

[Camellia]

The bunch of lilies I bought nearly 2 weeks ago is on its last legs. This is one of the last buds to open but, as you can see, the flower hasn't fully formed yet.

[girlwithpearl]

Hello everybody, this is my first post. I shoot with a bridge camera (Sony DSH-H7) and know virtually nothing about P&P

Please feel free to comment.

[Letrow]

Taken this weekend while walking the dogs

[Katy Noelle]

C&C so extremely welcome!

[Jim B.]

African Daisey

[Katy Noelle]

African Violet

African Violet?????? Really?

[Jim B.]

Katy,

Thanks for catching that.It's a daisey.

[Katy Noelle]

Katy,

Thanks for catching that.It's a daisey.

It's GORGEOUS!

[purplehaze]

Shot tonight with my Canon S95. In darkening the background, I muddied some of the petals, but am not sophisticated enough with the editing tools to know what to do about it. Comments, advice welcome.

Janis

[ScoutR]

C&C so extremely welcome!

Hi Katy: I'm not so sure about the composition and backgrounds in either of these, but OMG I absolutely love the texture and tones in the petals.

I think #1 would look great with a plain white background, and somehow or other with this angle it seems like the flower will topple the vase.

#2 needs a bit more room I think and again I'd prefer a plain background. That's just me though. I like to keep it simple. I've noticed that you manage to incorporate a lot into your shots and keep them looking good though, so as with all comments mine are purely subjective.

I do love the texture though. That to me is what it is about with flowers, so I love them.

Wendy

[ScoutR]

Hi Janis: I think the Orchid look great. Not so sure what you mean by the muddied petals, but if you are referring to the shadows, I'm looking forward to the answer on how to lighten them without lightening the background. I have had the same issue and I'm not savvy enough to get both right in PP. I believe I even go specific instructions, but still couldn't do it.

This works for me as is though. Nice work, it's hard to get a nice clean composition on a live plant, so if this is not a cut version way to go. I'm no composition expert, but to my eyes this is nicely arranged.

Wendy

[purplehaze]

Nice work, it's hard to get a nice clean composition on a live plantWendy

Thanks ,Wendy. It helped that it was in my minimalist cousin's condo, sitting alone against a stark grey wall. I have another shot here that is less happily composed, but with more of the nice bits in focus. Would that I could have the best of each in one shot. This one I have cropped a bit and could maybe crop better; I don't know:



As far as the muddiness of the first one goes, you can see that the petals in the blossom on the right are going dark red. That is a direct effect of darkening the background, which had to go, because (confession) I had caught part of the wall in the next room.

Janis

[Wirefox]

Katy

I agree with Wendy here, backgrounds fussy but the main subject is very nicely captured. It did make me check something though. I have been thinking about context today and pondering why some photographers images look so much better in their native websites. So I had a look at your Sunny Spot again and sure enough your images work wonderfully in your chosen environment, So we need to bear in mind (as Colin has reminded me on at least one occasion) Colins images are taken with big prints in mind, yours are taken with your personal blog in mind, mine are usually taken with very little on my mind But you can see my point about context. I take my images to be viewed in the internet gallery context but that is far from true with many others.

I am rambling a bit here and I have not reached a satisfactory conclusion. But I think all of us should remind ourselves when we get comments that the critic may not be seeing the image in context. If my images get short shift then I know I have failed because I have internet single photo viewing in mind as my viewing medium...this may not be the case with others.

Shot tonight with my Canon S95. In darkening the background, I muddied some of the petals, but am not sophisticated enough with the editing tools to know what to do about it. Comments, advice welcome.

Expose correctly for the petals on camera (spot meter). In PP open levels.Take the black dropper at the far left of the curve and click the dropper on darkest part of the background. Keep clicking (usually 2 or 3 clicks) until the background goes black. If you go too far you can always drag the black slider back to the left.

Go to the white slider at the right of the curve and drag it left until it just touches the point where the curve starts to rise off the axis. If the curve is bulked to the right you obviously do not need to do this but you may have other tonal issues if this is the case.

Finally save and close levels and open curves. At a point 1/4 way in from the L/H axis drag the curve ever so slightly below the reference (diagonal) line. Repeat at a point 1/4 way in from the R/H axis but drag the curve up until the vibrance of the petals comes back. You should then have created a very shallow S curve.

I really must get this copied since I advise this again and again on other sites. Manipulation of tonal levels and curves is the single most powerful PP tool you have at your disposal. You will no longer have muddy petals of tht I can assure you.

[purplehaze]

Expose correctly for the petals on camera (spot meter).

Note taken; thanks Steve.

Go to the white slider at the right of the curve and drag it left until it just touches the point where the curve starts to rise off the axis. If the curve is bulked to the right you obviously do not need to do this but you may have other tonal issues if this is the case.

Yes, the curve is already bulked. If I understand you right, that may be a problem? I checked the original RAW file and saw that the problem blossom is already more reddish to begin with. I am thinking maybe the only solution is to touch up the JPEG with Aperture's brush level tools, but am too brain dead to tackle that learning curve tonight. Much thanks for the help. Am learning a little more each day and it is exciting and rewarding.

I do love my little Canon. It keeps surprising me with what it can do. I just wish Aperture would catch up with the RAW code as the DPP program is not as full-featured.

Janis

[Katy Noelle]

Katy

I agree with Wendy here, backgrounds fussy but the main subject is very nicely captured. It did make me check something though. I have been thinking about context today and pondering why some photographers images look so much better in their native websites. So I had a look at your Sunny Spot again and sure enough your images work wonderfully in your chosen environment, So we need to bear in mind (as Colin has reminded me on at least one occasion) Colins images are taken with big prints in mind, yours are taken with your personal blog in mind, mine are usually taken with very little on my mind But you can see my point about context. I take my images to be viewed in the internet gallery context but that is far from true with many others.

I am rambling a bit here and I have not reached a satisfactory conclusion. But I think all of us should remind ourselves when we get comments that the critic may not be seeing the image in context. If my images get short shift then I know I have failed because I have internet single photo viewing in mind as my viewing medium...this may not be the case with others.

This is true - about context - my photos always look much better on my photo blog or on my "real" blog. There is something to be said about context and spacing and the background color it's against!

But, thanks Steve and Wendy! You answered the very things that I was wondering about.

[Vandenberg]

[mythlady]

Here's my contribution:



Taken at a dahlia show in a high school cafeteria -- horrible lighting, crowds jostling, messy backgrounds -- a kind of challenge I really enjoy.

Vandenberg, what beautiful colors in your pictures.

Elise

[purplehaze]

Taken at a dahlia show in a high school cafeteria -- horrible lighting, crowds jostling, messy backgrounds -- a kind of challenge I really enjoy.

You're a brave one, Elise. Gorgeous photo. What kind of equipment do you use?

Janis

[mythlady]

Thanks very much, Janis! I have all the local flower society shows in my calendar because the flowers are so beautiful and so many all gathered in one place. But it's very tricky, getting good shots! I have a Canon 40D, and the dahlia show pics were taken with the 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens. I just got it a couple of months ago and truly love the lens (which can be used for non-macro pics as well). I don't use flash in that environment, so I try to make the most of available light, flowers closer to the windows and so on. I also use a monopod, which is much less obtrusive than a tripod would be, because my hands aren't as steady as I'd like and it helps.

Elise