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| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 65 |
May 23 |
Reply |
I used Design Master paint for my backgrounds. |
May 21st |
| 65 |
May 23 |
Reply |
The background indoors is leaned up against the wall. It sits on a box to get the height I need.
Outdoors I have used a rod and a clamp outdoors. But many times, I can lean the background up against the rod. You could also use a dowl rod with one end sharpened to stick in the ground. I usually punch a hole on the one end of the background and make a string loop through the hole for many possibilities.
Most of the time outdoors I move around to find a good natural background at some distance away.
I think you are right about the background for the milkweed, two shades of darker greens. It was one I made as described and used a lot. I usually do not like to have much light on my backgrounds so to keep them from being a distraction. I feel the background can make or break the image. We can have the perfect image and destroy it with a bad background. |
May 21st |
| 65 |
May 23 |
Comment |
I took a another look at your image and have studied it several times. This time I have a question and I also worked with it some. I would like to know what type of lighting did you have? The reason I ask the tulip to my eye looks very flat. There's no or very little separation of the tulip from the background. They kind of blend together. The two seems to compete for the same space. I also flipped the image and added some space to the top and made it into a vertical. Interested to see what you and others think. |
May 18th |
 |
| 65 |
May 23 |
Reply |
To answer your question what is meant by "ed petal" with Frans image. I copied the information sent to me which was correct but when I would submit the info. for the image it would not print the part of the word ed. Only ed was printed. I tried 4 times with the same results. The second line about the image, the word would not print or appear.
Fran sent me the correct info. but I could not, as explained above, get it included.
If you read my comment about her image the same thing happened.
Curl would not be included only ed would print. I reported this to the web master but did not get a reply. |
May 15th |
| 65 |
May 23 |
Comment |
Hi Melanie, this is a striking image with great impact. Great detail in each petal. I too like the original. Great DOF at f7.1.
Great image! |
May 15th |
| 65 |
May 23 |
Comment |
Hi Maria, this is one beautiful image. I love the composition. Love the dreamy blue background. There's not a thing I can find that I would change. This would be a great image for many different applications such as a calendar or others.
I appreciate the detailed info. you gave to Jodi's' questions. |
May 15th |
| 65 |
May 23 |
Comment |
This is what I had in mind about the tilt. |
May 15th |
 |
| 65 |
May 23 |
Reply |
This is what I had in mind. |
May 15th |
 |
| 65 |
May 23 |
Reply |
Good questions, Jodi. My original image is really no different that this image other than I did sharpen the image and put the stroke in for the border. In NIK software I like to use a filter called structure it really brings out detail and depth. I did not crop this image that I can recall if I did maybe 1/4". I do very little with my images in post. To me it's all about how I capture the original image and get it right in the camera.
I love to shoot milkweed and I will find a group of milkweeds right after they open up to spread their seeds. I then look to find several pods that have the look I am looking for. I shot this image in my garage (my studio).
I use one light with a diffuser on the light. In this image the light source was positioned on the right side of the milkweed. I also used a diffuser called sunlight to bounce some light on the left, it's the secondary source of light which is important. That's my only light in a pitch-dark garage. I am using a very good 200 macro lens with a polarizer attached. This lens has a very narrow angle of view. This is a great lens to produce out of focus backgrounds. This may have been a black cloth background that I was using about 8 feet from the subject. All of my backgrounds, when shooting in my garage, are this distance from the subject thanks to that 200 mm lens. I use oasis to hold my subjects in place. That's what florist use to make flower arrangements in, it holds water. I always use a tripod and cable release and I use mirror up. I also shutter the eyepiece. I also check the histogram to get right exposure.
|
May 15th |
| 65 |
May 23 |
Comment |
Hi Jodi, what an interesting flower and foliage both have interesting shapes. I love the diagonal of the flower in composition. I would crop the image much closer to eliminate the background. To my eye the background is a bit of a distraction. I feel the flower is not as sharp as it could be. With the lens you are using are you using a tripod? I feel the texture is a bit over the top.
You mentioned about the distracting highlights in some of the leaves. Most leaves have a waxy surface and will reflect light called flair. When you get these reflections, you lose detail in these areas. There's no way in post you can recover this information it's lost. The best way to prevent this is to use a circular polarizer on the lens. It will do wonders. As you rotate the polarizer you will see these reflections disappear. I use one on my lens all the time. A polarizer will also improve the colors. In doing close-ups of flowers, I would not want to be with out a tripod and a polarizer. |
May 14th |
| 65 |
May 23 |
Comment |
Hi Fran, I like what LensBaby does with flowers. You have a good eye to find the tulip with the ed petal. Like the softness of the rest of the flower.
I would rather see this as a vertical with a little more room on top and less room on the sides. Consider a flip for better composition. I don't care for the textured background. To my eye the texture is a bit of a distraction. I would also try some other background colors.
I have several Lensbaby lens and love what you can do with them when shooting flowers. |
May 14th |
| 65 |
May 23 |
Comment |
One more comment or suggestion. If you made this a vertical, I feel the composition would be better if you would rotate and tilt the tulip to the right. This would prevent the stem from coming straight up from the middle on the bottom. The stem is then on a slight diagonal and helps bring the eye in from the lower left corner and up to the flower. We naturally tend to read a picture in that direction. I like to do this with all my flower shots. In this image if you would rotate the flower as mentioned the lower petal would fill the lower left corner and now really pick up the eye and lead the eye up to center of the flower to the yellow stamens and pistil. This gives the image more impact and that's what makes an image score higher in competition. |
May 12th |
| 65 |
May 23 |
Comment |
Hi Diana, you did a great job with the lighting you had available with natural light. Nice clarity in the image very sharp.
I feel the image of the tulip with its shape would work much better as a vertical rather than a horizontal. This would allow more of the stem showing which can be an important part of the flower. I would like to see a little room on the top and bottom and a little less room on the right side. A vertical would provide these dimensions. I would like to see a little greener color in the background. I feel the background would be better if it were several shades of green making it look more natural.
A note about backgrounds. I make all my own backgrounds using smooth mat board. Some of them are the centers from larger mats I cut that many times are waste. I then use floral spray paint florist use to paint flowers which I purchase from craft stores. It works very well, dries fast and has a flat finish. I usually use multiple colors on each side when making my backgrounds. I like hunter green and forest green on one side. I vary the concentration of each color fading from one color to the other color. I then paint the other side of the mat board with another combination. You can try some pretty wild combinations that can work well. All my images I take if I am using a background are ones I have made. Its best to keep the backgrounds some distance from the subject so not to allow the background to be in focus. I sometimes take several backgrounds with me in the field. Very little cost and if the get bad make new ones. If anyone has questions about this ask. |
May 12th |
8 comments - 5 replies for Group 65
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8 comments - 5 replies Total
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