You don't bring me Flowers anymore.

[ScoutR]

Absolutely beautiful Wendy. The results from your G1 are very impressive.

Thanks Mike: The Cosmos are very photogenic, I wish they had started blooming much earlier. The G1 is my goto camera for florals. I wish I could explain why, but it gives me the look I like for flowers.

Wendy

[ScoutR]

Ooooo! These are all lovely! I didn't know that this thread existed. Happy day!

LOL, Katy, I have a feeling the thread is due for expansion now that you know about it. Love to see more of your shots here - or wherever you wish to post them.

Wendy

[Wirefox]

Cosmos

Wendy the 2nd Cosmos shot is a real winner. Beautifully shot simplicity.

Right, now you are one of the top togs on this forum you are going to have give some secrets away to us lesser mortals...no not Rob's casting couch...but I would much appreciate the dirt on how you went about lighting this. I do a lot of low key stuff and have never really tried the high key still life with any success. So spill the beans.....or the hamster gets it

Steve

[ScoutR]

Thank you Steve: What a weird feeling, you asking me for advice. Well, at the risk that you are just having some fun with me, I'll reveal my secrets.

My main objective was a white background without shadows. I had a piece of white bristol board in the trunk of the car so I unrolled it and managed to get it propped up against the wall dull side out. I also had a small piece of white matt board which was placed under the vase. The sun was behind me and to the right. I had to pull the vase out quite a ways from the background so the shadow would not be visible in the shot. There were still some light shadows, but I removed them in PP.

I had my 5 in 1 reflector with me and for this one I used the white side to try and reflect the light back on the flowers. I really don't think it was very effective in this particular shot though. I got the reflector aimed where I wanted it by holding it high above my head and to the left with my left hand and then with the camera in my right hand composed the shot. However, I think while composing the shot, I moved and lost the effect of the reflector. The white background and base reflected some light back though. The Lumix is light enough to try this, I wouldn't attempt it with the Nikon. I did some shots with the gold reflector too, but I did not like them as well. the colour was interesting but I haven't found a composition I like from those yet. It was very easy to see the effect of the reflector on them though.

As shot the background was still not white, as I had to do negative EC to avoid blown highlights on the flowers. I managed to get the white back by making adjustments in PP. Lightroom: 22 Fill Light, +77 brightness, -15 Shadows: +38 light tones. Then in Elements besides the usual NR and sharpening I used the eyedropper in the Colour Replace Function to select the background and then lighten it until it was white. After that of course I had to tweak Shadows and Highlights and Levels again.

I've tried these white backgrounds before, and quite often I end up with severe chromatic abberation. There is probably some in this one too, but it doesn't look like a heavily outlined picture from a colouring book, so I'm happy. I'm not sure why it shows up in some and not in others, but I get it with both cameras, and even if it does not show up in the shot, I have to be very careful when Processing to make sure I don't bring it out.

So, there you go - not very professional, but I was not at home and it really was a quick and dirty set up. I will have some kind of lighting setup at home this winter and hope to keep improving when I can leave things set up and play with the light a little more. Still deciding whether to get a speedlight (flash) or studio light. Space will be the deciding factor.

Grasshopper

[Jim B.]

[Jim B.]

Mainau, Bodensee, Germany



D2Xs, Nikkor 24-85mm f2.8-4

Beautiful shot! Nice use of light.I love the colour combination.Looks like fire.

[Wirefox]

Well, at the risk that you are just having some fun with me, I'll reveal my secrets.

Not in the least. I was thinking about high key shots at the weekend and your set up is very much in line with my initial thoughts. It is always very interesting to see how others go about getting the shot especially when it is good one like 'cosmos'. Many thanks for taking time to explain

Steve

[Klickit]

These a just beautiful, Wendy, especially the second one. The way you have arranged the flowers and framed them makes a special image.

[ScoutR]

Nice one Jim. This looks like the same variety of Cosmos as mine. I'm finding conflicting information as to whether these are perenials or if they just re-seed themselves. Is this one from your garden, and if so do they come up every year? Also how tall are the plants?

Wendy

[ScoutR]

Thanks Kit, this one is up there with my favorite florals. The inspiration was certainly from CiC

Wendy

[Jim B.]

Wendy,

I think they are annuals.They were in a wildflower mix I bought.Not sure if they propagate themselves.
The plants are almost 6' tall and loaded with flowers.Late bloomers too,didn't start until last week.

[Katy Noelle]

Jim, what kind of lens did you (do you) use on this and your other butterfly, bug, etc. shots???

[Jim B.]

Katy,

I use a Sigma 150 macro for the really close shots(insects and flowers). A 100-400 for butterflies,birds,deer,etc.
I have a 100 macro but the 150 gets the most use.I like the longer working distance.
I used the 150 on the Cosmos shot.

[Katy Noelle]

Katy,

I use a Sigma 150 macro for the really close shots(insects and flowers). A 100-400 for butterflies,birds,deer,etc.
I have a 100 macro but the 150 gets the most use.I like the longer working distance.
I used the 150 on the Cosmos shot.

Thanks, Jim! See, I keep wondering HOW does he do that? Would you spill the beans on any thing else you do that gets you this wonderful depth of color, clarity and sense of texture??? Pretty, pretty pleeeease!

[Benbro88]

Hey, does this work at all?



I'm fairly new to photography and don't know much about macro shots (but I thought I'd at least give it a try )

[ScoutR]

Wendy,

I think they are annuals.They were in a wildflower mix I bought.Not sure if they propagate themselves.
The plants are almost 6' tall and loaded with flowers.Late bloomers too,didn't start until last week.

Aha! I thought the ones I've been working on were freaks or something. They just started blooming profusely in the last couple weeks, and they are 6' + tall which I certainly was not expecting. I planted some from seed this spring in what have turned out to be very inappropriate spots in my Father's flowerbeds. I really like them though, and I'll find a different spot for them next year.

Wendy

[Jim B.]

Wendy,

They are lovely flowers.What I like the most? I don't have to get on my knees to photograph them.

[Jim B.]

Katy,

I'll give it a go.
Using a macro lens will show every detail(that's in focus).Macro lenses produce extremely sharp pictures.
I'm using a 5DII.It's resolution and colour rendition are outstanding.
I also use a 50D and the 5DII produces a cleaner image.This is my observation.

The biggest influence on the image quailty of my photos has been post processing.
I've shot thousands of macro photos in the past three years.In the last few months my processing skills(sharpening technique especially) have improved
immensely.

Practice is a big part of it.

[Jim B.]

Hey, does this work at all?



I'm fairly new to photography and don't know much about macro shots (but I thought I'd at least give it a try )

Very nice! Nice DoF .Maybe a tighter crop to eliminate the open space in the upper left of the frame.
I see it was taken at 55mm.What lens did you use?

[Katy Noelle]

Katy,

I'll give it a go.
Using a macro lens will show every detail(that's in focus).Macro lenses produce extremely sharp pictures.
I'm using a 5DII.It's resolution and colour rendition are outstanding.
I also use a 50D and the 5DII produces a cleaner image.This is my observation.

The biggest influence on the image quailty of my photos has been post processing.
I've shot thousands of macro photos in the past three years.In the last few months my processing skills(sharpening technique especially) have improved
immensely.

Practice is a big part of it.

Otay! I, also, saw that Richard was recommending a book on macro that he found at his library. Thanks!!!