Long lens flower close-up with high key background

[billtils]

Had a frustrating day yesterday trying to get a good image of a similar flower using stacking. Gave up, replaced the close-up rig with the 70-200mm and shot this at 175mm, 1/60s, f/16, ISO 1000, camera on tripod, bounce flash, LED light panel background.





Unfortunately the similar flower was a variety of Campanula from the garden and the plant was close enough to being past its best to mean it is not possible to try again.

[Wavelength]

Beautiful flower; i personally prefer a less bright white background.. for enjoying the flower more; just a personal taste.

[DanK]

I think it came out well. However, the neck of the bottle at the bottom left is distracting.

My taste is that unless the object holding the flower is part of the composition, it's best not to make it visible. However, that's more easily said than done. One option I often use is the Wimberley "plamp". (The original wasn't durable, but the one labeled "Plamp II" solved the problems with the original.) Another option that gives less control is a block of florist's foam. In some cases, I use a bottle or vase below the frame, but that requires a great deal of care when stacking to avoid movement between the images.

[billtils]

I think it came out well. However, the neck of the bottle at the bottom left is distracting.

My taste is that unless the object holding the flower is part of the composition, it's best not to make it visible. However, that's more easily said than done.

Agree! However in this case I was more concerned with the flower and left it in to give an idea of the DoF.

[Manfred M]

+1 to Dan’s comment. The top of the bottle is a distraction and the image would do well without it.

I find that two approaches work well. The first one is what Dan has suggested and the second one is to include the “vase” and make it part of the composition. The moment you have something crossing the edge of the frame with a plain background like you have here, it ends up as a distracting element.

[billtils]

+1 to Dan’s comment. The top of the bottle is a distraction and the image would do well without it.

I find that two approaches work well. The first one is what Dan has suggested and the second one is to include the “vase” and make it part of the composition. The moment you have something crossing the edge of the frame with a plain background like you have here, it ends up as a distracting element.

I think this is all dealt with in my reply to Dan.

[xpatUSA]

Originally Posted by Manfred M +1 to Dan’s comment. The top of the bottle is a distraction and the image would do well without it.

I find that two approaches work well. The first one is what Dan has suggested and the second one is to include the “vase” and make it part of the composition. The moment you have something crossing the edge of the frame with a plain background like you have here, it ends up as a distracting element.

I think this is all dealt with in my reply to Dan.

I thought to tone down the bottle and the stem but then I got to playing around and messed it all up, Bill:



Still practicing masking and stuff, sorry ...

[billtils]

I thought to tone down the bottle and the stem but then I got to playing around and messed it all up, Bill:
...

I kind of enjoyed that, Dan!

If we start with the idea of taking a photograph of a small flower then all manner of options open up: do we go for realism, how is the flower presented, do we want it pin sharp or soft (the presenter in the first macro course I took was strongly against total sharpness and preferred only a key element to be sharp), plain background or not and if plain should its colour be determined by the colour(s) of the flower. There are endless opportunities for technical and artistic creativity.

My OP was intended as an update/postscript to my "macro" and stacking journeys, which in turn are offshoots of a more general investigation of "flowers" as a subject. I find myself being drawn to two contrasting approaches: (1) simplicity in presentation hence the high key in this and an earlier post, and will pursue this some more and (2) more experience with stacking to capture the intricate structural detail that we tend to miss when viewing the flower as a whole.

Bottom line is keep experimenting - there's more to photography than realism, and there are more paths to creativity than by making composites!