Daisy-0031
by RedDotCom

Comment by Ken:
Simply fantastic job on the lighting; I've done these shots and it's very hard to get it right. The high contrast just makes this jump off the screen.

Daisy-0031
by RedDotCom

Comment by RedDotCom:

Originally posted by colorcarnival: First - the detail you captured on the petals is excellent! They look so soft and the clarity of the picture makes me feel like I can actually reach out and touch them. Now I have a question about your processing. Did you use some kind of dodging on the center part of the flower? The dark area, dead center, pulled my eyes in and then I started looking just above and it looks like a white haze there. Like something is not quite right - but not so wrong that it ruins the picture. It's just something I noticed. Excellent job with the lighting!

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Nope, didn't do any dodging but I did try to layer the petals and the center of the flower differently. I tried to enhance the color of the center (while it was still in color) and I put a sepia tint to the petals. The center of the flower is still green at the darkest spots and yellow in the other parts - see thumbnail image above. Thanks for your feedback!

Daisy-0031
by RedDotCom

Comment by colorcarnival:
First - the detail you captured on the petals is excellent! They look so soft and the clarity of the picture makes me feel like I can actually reach out and touch them. Now I have a question about your processing. Did you use some kind of dodging on the center part of the flower? The dark area, dead center, pulled my eyes in and then I started looking just above and it looks like a white haze there. Like something is not quite right - but not so wrong that it ruins the picture. It's just something I noticed. Excellent job with the lighting!

Daisy-0031
by RedDotCom

Comment by UrfaK:
Centered composition looks good but not so sure about the cut off bits.. the light is just so pretty..

Daisy-0031
by RedDotCom

Comment by bassbone:
the joy and simply perfection of the flower really shines through - i am just unsure if i like the crop to leave out the tips of the petals at the top and bottom

Zeus
by RedDotCom

Comment by RedDotCom:

Originally posted by Melethia: Wonderful portrait! I keep trying to get a shot like this of mine, but neither one will ever sit still long enough. The minute they hear the sound of the camera focusing, they move!

I know exactly what you mean! I spent a half hour on my belly waiting for Zeus to notice all of the birds in the back yard. Once he did, he was a captive subject for me. At my new house, I've put a bird feeder in the back yard to acctract the birds to the yard and therefore attract the 'kidz' to the windows. Good subject matter for the b/w a week! Cheers!

Daisy-0031
by RedDotCom

Comment by RedDotCom:

Originally posted by Melethia: Really an excellent control of the exposure - very hard to do well with white/light colors. A very good conversion - mind adding how you did it? And very crisp, very sharp.

Melethia, I set up a black foam board left/right about a foot away each side and a black drop cloth about 3 feet back. The daisy was on my breakfast table w/an incandescent ceiling fixture about 3 feet above it. I put a scrim across the top of the two foam boards to soften the light and act like a soft box, set a custom white balance of the light from the flower's position and metered w/a hand held light meter for the exposure. Metered in aperature mode (f11) to keep in the lens' sweet spot and focused on the front edge/petal (verified w/DoF preview).

Not sure I can properly describe the CS3 process except to say I was following textbook examples of converting an image to b/w. I'm trying to learn/teach myself so I'm just following recommended steps. Wish I could be of more help - hopefully this will be the case soon!

Daisy-0031
by RedDotCom

Comment by CapeSail:
Extremely clear photo....gotta love those Nikon's. Great lighting.

Daisy-0031
by RedDotCom

Comment by hajeka:
I agree about the hotspots. Always easier to get than to get rid off. Perhaps a kind of underlighting would help (but I'm not an expert) or some HDR thing (still trying to learn that myself). But, forgetting all that, it's a wonderful flower but indeed a little bit too centered.

Daisy-0031
by RedDotCom

Comment by BAMartin:
This is simply elegant!