My Orchid project

[rudi]

As we have some orchids flowering nowadays, I am a bit in an 'Orchid-mood' right now.
I already posted some pictures, and I do plan to post some more as they come into flower.
After 'mailing' with Donald I thought it might be a good idea to bring them all together in one thread...
so here I start again.

My previous threads: First orchid from the season
Cymbidium Orchid

Hereby another Cymbidium.
A stack from 15 images, stacked in Zerene pMax.
Exif: 7D, 100mm macro, f11, ss 1/250, iso 100.
Lighted with flash bounced off the celing.

C&C welcomed and appreciated.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[chauncey]

It looks a little too crispy on my monitor Rudi.

[rudi]

Nicely captured.

Thanks John.

[rudi]

It looks a little too crispy on my monitor Rudi.

Thanks for your comment Wm.
Crispy is good, too crispy is not so good, I guess,
Can you elaborate on that ?

[IzzieK]

I like the shot but I will wait for William's reply to your question.

[rudi]

I like the shot but I will wait for William's reply to your question.

Thanks Izzie, that makes two off us..

[DanK]

I like it, but I agree with William. This one also looks a bit oversharpened to me. I don't have that variety at home, but I just checked the two orchids I have blooming currently with a magnifying glass, and they don't have the crunchy edges that one can see in your image in the lightbox.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Rudi, I like the image and I think crispy is good for this image, also very nice colors I'm not sure about the composition though, IMO it looks a bit centered. May be some cropping and/or rotating would help, but I really don't know

[rudi]

I like it, but I agree with William. This one also looks a bit oversharpened to me. I don't have that variety at home, but I just checked the two orchids I have blooming currently with a magnifying glass, and they don't have the crunchy edges that one can see in your image in the lightbox.

Thanks Dan for your comment. The same sharpening applied as last one. I will do a rework in a few days time.

A lot of the Cymbidium flowers have crunchy edges, more to follow.....as the start flowering. I think yours is a Phalaenopsis and most have nice clean edges...

[rudi]

Hi Rudi, I like the image and I think crispy is good for this image, also very nice colors I'm not sure about the composition though, IMO it looks a bit centered. May be some cropping and/or rotating would help, but I really don't know

Thanks for comment Binnur. I took several stacks, looser crops, tighter crops, upside down, left, right....and have been looking at them for days and settled for this one right now, but I might think otherwise in coming days

[rudi]

Happy hollidays to all !!

Hereby the reworkt version.
What do you think ??

[ajohnw]

Thanks for your comment Wm.
Crispy is good, too crispy is not so good, I guess,
Can you elaborate on that ?

I tried some orchid shots when we had one. Like a number of flowers they don't always look so good when a magnified view is used. Colours are produced via dots in some cases and being able to see them detracts from their beauty giving a view nothing like they appear by eye.

I'd say you would do much better on this one if you shot from further away and added some sort of backdrop. Following my disappointment with my first orchid I check flowers over first with a magnifying glass just in case they make a lot of use of dots and as a check of what a larger than life sized view will look like. Orchids seem to suffer most in this area but some sort of backdrop often seems to be a good idea when shooting a single flower even if it's added artificially.

John
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[chauncey]

John. someone once told me that a good photographer could make the most mundane subject attractive.
That might be true, but...it's a lot easier when you start with a pretty subject.

Point is...all orchids are not photogenic, regardless of the beauty in real life.
Choose wisely grasshopper.

[DanK]

I like the new one better.

[rudi]

John, Wm, Dan Thanks for the comments.

[rudi]

Next orchid: Oncidium 'Twinkle Jasmin'. Individual flowers are about 2 cm in height.

Exif: 7D, 100mm macro, f11, ss 1/200, iso 100
Off camera flash with softbox, camera left and some reflectors.



A more detailed picture. f16, ss1/250, rest the same as above.
The light is maybe too harsh on the OOF flower ???



All C&C welcomed and appreciated !!

[DanK]

I think the first is very nicely composed. The second doesn't do it for me. I find the OOF flower distracting, not just because it is bright, but also because it is large and right up against in the in-focus flower.

[rudi]

I think the first is very nicely composed. The second doesn't do it for me. I find the OOF flower distracting, not just because it is bright, but also because it is large and right up against in the in-focus flower.

Thanks for your valuable input Dan. I was a bit in doubt myself what to think abt the OOF flower. I could not cut it (big chief was watching). I couldn't put a card between them (flowers too small). I could have cloned it out or gone closer, or taken a stack so more was in focus.....well next time I hope to do better

[DanK]

Thanks for your valuable input Dan. I was a bit in doubt myself what to think abt the OOF flower. I could not cut it (big chief was watching). I couldn't put a card between them (flowers too small). I could have cloned it out or gone closer, or taken a stack so more was in focus.....well next time I hope to do better

I have this problem all the time. Sometimes I do simply cut away the offending part. I haven't done this with orchids.