Easter Lily II

[Andrew76]

A follow up to my first Spring Lily shot. This one didn't take nearly as many shots to stack, not even half. I hope you like it...



Again, EXIF for those interested - All shots were taken:

100mm
f 9.0
1/25 sec

2 Speedlites - one shooting through a reflector panel (acting as 'the sun') camera left, and one from below/behind the flower @ camera right.

Thanks for looking.

[ShaneS]

Lovely Andrew. I can't speak to the lighting or focus stacking technicalities but a couple of thoughts crossed my mind when viewing that I thought I would share...

It seems a bit crooked to me and I wonder if a slight rotation counterclockwise might help by creating equal space for the arcs created by the uppermost petals on each side of the center?

Also, have you viewed this flipped vertically? I tried it an thought it looked interesting that way as well. I am not great at putting my more 'artsy' thoughts into words but I think that maybe the upward lines of the stamen present more optimistically? But I don't know if the lighting looked 'correct' with that orientation.

Just my two cents for your consideration...

[Bobobird]

Excellent image.

Apart from Shane's suggestions perhaps tone down a bit of the highlights on the right petal?

[rudi]

Hi Andrew,
again very nice.
Perhaps toning down the highlights in the lower petals ?
Did you use diffusers on your speedlites?
Would it benefit from a tad off LCE/or sharpen on the anters/stamen ?
How many shots were these ? Which programm did you use ?
Kind regards, Rudi

[Andrew76]

Thanks Shane, Bobo, and Rudi. I appreciate the time you took to comment.

Shane, I tried rotating the image as you suggested, but it then throws off the other 4 petals. So maybe I'll try the shot again, and correct the problem in composition.

Bobo, I see now that the light is uneven, and that one petal needs to be toned down a little. Thanks for the suggestion.

Rudi, the main light was shot through a diffuser, but the lower light was not. There are 7 photos that make up this stack. I use Zerene to stack them, then LR4, and PS to make minor adjustments.

Thanks again everyone, I will try a few more ideas, and see if I can improve.

[rudi]

Thanks for replying Andrew,
I use CS5 for stacking, but sometimes artefacts do show up, probably due to my own faults/lack off experience. I only tried a trial version off Zenere on a few images.
What is your idea about Zenere ?
Kind regards, Rudi

[Andrew76]

Rudi, I took the advice of some of the other members here at CiC before I purchased Zerene. A gentleman by the name of DanK.

I really like it. I was running into the same problems as you with CS5, and so needed something else. I'm still going through a little bit of a learning curve, and the biggest issue I'm having is developing a workflow with it.

I have been looking through some past threads where Dan told me how he does it (as you can't just open RAW files into Zerene), but I can't seem to find it. Hopefully he sees this! So, I've been messing around trying different things, seeing what works best.

That aside, it's a very intuitive program, and easy to use. If it's something you plan on doing a lot of, I would recommend it highly. It does a much better job of aligning, and stacking.

[rudi]

Thanks Andrew,
I have many (??) images ready to be stacked. I will be messing around a bit more with Zenere before purchasing.
Iff I can't find anything in older threads, I might start another one.
Kind regards, Rudi

[Andrew76]

Hey Rudi, I found some - I haven't had a chance to read through it, but check HERE to see what we came up with.

I know there are a few others as well, so I'll keep looking and keep you posted.

**EDIT -Yep that one has a lot of good info for you...

[Steve S]

Great job andrew, i like it. Only a couple wee little hot spots along the bottom, but perfectly acceptable(nit picking really). Perhaps a slight angle change of the light, or a little softer next time, will fix that issue.

[rudi]

Hey Rudi, I found some - I haven't had a chance to read through it, but check HERE to see what we came up with.

I know there are a few others as well, so I'll keep looking and keep you posted.

**EDIT -Yep that one has a lot of good info for you...

Thanks a lot for the link Andrew. A lot off stuff to go through...

[Andrew76]

Great job andrew, i like it. Only a couple wee little hot spots along the bottom, but perfectly acceptable(nit picking really). Perhaps a slight angle change of the light, or a little softer next time, will fix that issue.

Thanks Steve, for the reply! Nit picky is good - how else will we get better? I will play with some lighting options for sure - I must admit, I did rush it. I was pretty excited when the bud opened, so it was a quick - kids to bed, into the studio!

Softer is generally better for flowers, but I've been messing around with a few variances. Not sure if they'll work.

Thanks again!

[Otavio]

Hi Andrew. Nothing to add to the excellent comments already provided above, sorry. The only thing I can say is I like this image a lot. The black background nicely contrasting with the white petals gives the image a very strong appeal, IMO.

Well done!

[Andrew76]

Hey Otávio!! Thanks for taking the time to comment, much appreciated.

I've meant to mention to you in passing too, that my youngest son is named 'Távio' - my wife and I really like the name Otávio, and decided to stick with it, but in English speaking schools, thought it might be too much for the teachers, and other kids, so just shortened it a wee bit. So, there you go!

[Otavio]

Hello, Andrew. Nice to know that. Yes, Otávio is a latin name and might sound a bit uncommon in english, so I think you found an intelligent way out to both keep the name that you like and adapt it into something more usual to english language.

Cheers!