Pink Rose - still life

[PRSearls]

A rose from my wife's garden. Shot indoors and lighted with single soft box against a black foam core background. Stack focused image using Helicon Focus. Taken with a 180 mm macro. Comments and suggestions welcome.

Paul S

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[Ziggy]

Works for me.

[Wavelength]

That is something worthy of being admired

[Round Tuit]

Paul,
This is lovely. Would you mind sharing how many images you stacked and at what fl they were taken.
Andre

[Cantab]

Paul, this photo is spectacular! Did you use flash in the softbox or some form of continuous lighting?

[bnnrcn]

Great image Paul, lovely !

[PRSearls]

Thank you for the kind comments. I used five images combined in Helicon Focus software. The lens was a Canon 180 mm Macro, shot at 1/160 sec. @ f/16. One Speedotron studio strobe with a small soft box was used for light. The light's output determined the f/stop. 1/160 second is my normal sync speed for these lights if I do not want any room light to affect the shot.

This rose was an accident. My wife and I were working around the plants and we broke one of the stems with a nice bud on it. We brought it inside and put it in a vase. It opened in a couple days into this perfect flower. No holes from insects or other defects. It is probably my favorite flower image. You can't tell from this small image but it has amazing detail and texture in the pedals.

[FootLoose]

Beautiful image, Paul. The way you have used the lighting makes it special.

[Mike Buckley]

It is probably my favorite flower image.

The good news is that the image is of such high quality that anyone who made it would likely consider it their best. The bad news is that it's gonna be hard to top it.

I'm surprised that you used only one light source. The stem clearly indicates that the light came from the left side. Yet a leaf on the opposite side is also somewhat brightly lit. I realize that the soft box disperses the light in different directions but, never having used one in this way, I'm surprised that it disperses the light that much.

[PRSearls]

Hello Mike. I believe I used a white card to fill-in the shadows. Sorry to have omitted this in my description. Highlights/shadows were then refined in post processing. You are right, this will be the shot I will try to surpass in the future.

[Mike Buckley]

I believe I used a white card to fill-in the shadows.

That makes sense. I feel better now.

[Digital]

Paul, this is a very nice photograph.


Bruce