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ctfchallenge | all galleries >> Challenge 58 - Vertical >> Challenge 58 - Eligible > Soft Lit Orchid *
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6/27/04 Jim B (MSP)

Soft Lit Orchid *

Medina, Minnesota

I was playing around again with using a small flashlight as the primary source of lighting, and "painting" the flower.
Per some consistent comments, I have also "straightened" the flower stem and brightened the 2nd leaf via PhotoShop.

Canon EOS D60 ,Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 AT-X AF Pro
20.0-35.0mm @ 35.0mm
30 sec, f/9.5
ISO: 100
Levels, curves. and unsharpen mask full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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ctfchallenge30-Jun-2004 02:34
Thanks to all for the constructive comments.

Jim B
alexeig29-Jun-2004 20:58
Great lighting. I like dark background
Guest 29-Jun-2004 01:56
You can really see the difference in this image. Nice effort Jim. Looks like it paid off. -atothev
Nugar29-Jun-2004 01:56
Yup, it looks much better now. More balanced. Now if you would just...
ctfchallenge29-Jun-2004 01:52
Jim, I like this better. The flowers seem more grounded to the pot. theFly
ctfchallenge29-Jun-2004 01:28
Note changes per comments. The leaf is also "brighter", as it is from a different exposure.
Jim
iso320028-Jun-2004 20:32
Let me just mention that your chosen lighting techinque is very well done and really works on this Jim
ctfchallenge28-Jun-2004 19:07
I'm getting the impression that many (most?) people would prefer this more vertical and symetrical. I'll have another go at it.

Jim
Nugar28-Jun-2004 15:46
I think this is a problem for photoshop wizardry. I'd say, cut the image in three pieces: the plant, the stem and the flowers. Rotate the stem until it is vertical, then move the flowers to the left to match the position. Re-crop the picture and you're done. It may work :) I think it may work because judging by my monitor, the background is 100% black.
ctfchallenge28-Jun-2004 12:08
Fly,
I'll try that. The only problem - there are only two leaves on the plant, and one is lit already. And yes, this is my orchid. We grow a couple of them during the year.
Jim
ctfchallenge28-Jun-2004 02:55
Jim, I think one thing that would help is adding more light on the other leaves in the pot. Currently there is not a good connection between the flowers and the pot. Just my 2 cents. I hope it helps. The orchid is beautiful. Do you grow them? theFly
ctfchallenge28-Jun-2004 02:03
Pops,
I've tried straightening the stem, but that ends up too "centric" for me. I think the large size of the group of flowers relative to the pot tends to make it appear to be top heavy. The only way to fix that is to crop out the pot.
Thanks for the comments.

Jim
Guest 27-Jun-2004 20:41
I love orchids. Beautiful textures and tones, Jim, but it seems a bit out of balance to my eye. I don't know how you could easily fix that either.