Flowers from my home studio...

[ShaneS]

Some shots that I took over the weekend in my newly minted home studio (if you can actually call a card table and a couple of desk lamps in the spare bedroom a studio )

First some shots of a sunny yellow Gerbera daisy:

#1 (black background)



#2 (back view on white background)



#3 (full frontal)



#4 (Christmas berries)



#5 (Mums - on this one I tried a more complex composition)



This is a continuation of the Looks like rain... thread I started late last week and where I posted my first shots.

All critical feedback and your overall impressions and opinions on the shots are welcome as I would like to improve my ability to shoot this type of images in whatever ways are needed.

Thank you.

[Stagecoach]

Shane,

Very impressive, I very much like the white background ones.

I did some white background trials a while ago and found it helpful at times to extend a white canvas around the edges so that I could easily judge the 'white' success if going for perfect white during pp work.

Grahame

[ShaneS]

Thanks Grahame. Yes, getting the backgrounds right does take some effort in both lighting and PP. I would guess that if I had better lighting it might be a tad easier and I appreciate the wrap around tip. It makes a lot of sense for that reason and to allow for different angles of shooting when you are in a limited space and something other that your background often creeps into the shot.

[Wavelength]

They are all very impressive
In the first image, i would like to see a bit more of the face of the flower
Regards

[ShaneS]

Thank you Nandakumar for the suggestion - it's a good one and well received.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Nice job. The one shot that really grabs my attention (and which I really like) is #4. The composition is pretty good, though with the stem leaning left, I might place the vase to the right more (or have the stem slightly more upright, though not completely straight). I might also suggest a VERY soft reflector (e.g. a piece of white paper a distance away) to get some light up into the shadow areas; you would still want much less light than the primary direction, but enough to bring out the detail and reduce contrast a tad. The contrast is good and works though. I wonder how it would look if the primary light was diffused to reduce the glare on the berries. Processing on this shot looks pretty darn good to my eyes. The WB looks correct IMO; I can't imagine the desk lamps being neutral...what method did you use to correct color wb/temp? Overall a very nice shot, which, with some improvements, could be a super shot.

[ShaneS]

Thanks for your thoughtful and detailed response Matt. As far as WB goes I purchased daylight bulbs, shot on auto-white balance and then adjusted in ACR so the background appeared white.

I have gone to school on your comments so please accept the following comments as explanations rather than excuses. I am noting all of this and other comments for when I have an opportunity to do this type of shooting again.

Diffusion/Glare: I did have both my desk lamps diffused with parchment paper but they may have been too close to the subject which caused the excessive glare on the berries (or possibly just the wrong angle or light)?

Dark Shadows: I did try to use a make shift tin-foil reflector to lighten up the shadows but either didn't have the lighting set up correctly or did not find the spot and angle that allowed the light to hit the shaded berries.

Positioning: I really like your suggestion of moving the vase father to the right but since this was a minimal crop I don't have the room to move it without creating some room on the left in PP. Lastly, I think I need to invest in something to hold the stems of flowers where I want them and not where they want to go. Those berries wanted to be there and only there - trust me on that one

I liked physics in high school but had no idea I would be using it in my photography and have obviously remembered just enough to be dangerous

Thanks again for the comments!

[FlyingSquirrel]

Glad I could help. It sounds like you're on track; I look forward to your future photos.

[Kaye Leggett]

Beautiful collection, as others particularly like the white background and no 2 is lovely - I am sure you could make a trytich of it with the other Gerbera with white background.

[ShaneS]

Thanks Kaye - I am intrigued by your idea of a triptych and might give it a try over the weekend.

[Rita]

I am enjoying this series very much. I'm not at home right now but when I get home I think
this box setup is something I will be trying.

[Kaye Leggett]

Thanks Kaye - I am intrigued by your idea of a triptych and might give it a try over the weekend.

I'm pleased to see you can spell triptych - it alluded me last night ! Have fun