[Steve]

The weather continues to be restrictive on the old photography front so I have been doing some indoor stuff.

Here are a few flower shots from today.









There are some others on my personal site if you want more

[minimeeze]

Love the last two - very colourful!
Is the first one and the 3rd one the same flower? The colour looks very washed out in the first one

[ed34]

great colours there, love the last one

[Steve]

Originally Posted by minimeeze

Is the first one and the 3rd one the same flower? The colour looks very washed out in the first one

Yes they are the same flower, I processed the first one differently.

The correct colour is as shown on the 3rd one

[KenCo1964]

I don't mind the first one, I think it's quite nice with pastel colours, I also like the second but for me the fourth is a cracker. The third for to much water going on for me but all nice sharp shots.

[Fangman]

Join the club - I have been reduced to flower shots recently. Love the third one but the background is too light behind the tulip for my taste. Regarding post processing - had my first ever 20/20 for the bright blue crocusses at the club competition - well chuffed!

[ppp]

Love the water droplet pattern at the top on the third one

[dod]

Hmm, I was planning a series like this in the summer, don't think I'll bother now Really nice

[Glen]

What lens were you using Steve?

[jewel]

Even on a dreary rainy day your inspired and came up with these. Their all great Steve, but the last two really stand out. Great colours!

Jewel

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Glen

What lens were you using Steve?

Canon 50mm F1.8 by itself or with either the 13 or 21mm extension tubes depending on the picture.

Originally Posted by jewel

Even on a dreary rainy day your inspired and came up with these. Their all great Steve, but the last two really stand out. Great colours!

Thanks Jewel

[Boo]

Great shots; I particularly like the tulip for its hi key sort of look. How do you achieve that?

I love the detail in the 4th flower.... although the centre of it really reminds me of a spiders big fat squidgey body which is not so pleasant lol

Any advice for indoor flower photography i.e. best sort of equipment, lighting and how you use it?

[noah]

very nice shots steve, i like them all. the first one seems like quite a novel treatment and not one you see very often, good stuff.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Boo

Great shots; I particularly like the tulip for its hi key sort of look. How do you achieve that?

Thank you, I was wondering if anyone liked that shot, maybe it is overshadowed by some of the others (we all have dreams ). After setting manual white balance, it was shot with a distance of about 24inch away from a white wall with just natural light from a window to the left as you look at the shot. I then processed the raw file to get the lightest part of the background white, and altered the contrast to be quite high. Using RawShooter also allows me to reduce the brightness of just the highlights at the same time to stop them being either blown out or distracting.

Originally Posted by Boo

Any advice for indoor flower photography i.e. best sort of equipment, lighting and how you use it?

Try to use natural lighting whenever possible, manual white balance will also help greatly. Try to avoid shadows, either from the petals themselves or from the vase or the subject onto the surface that you are using to position the shot on. If using natural light from a window you can get reflections in the pottery or glass, using a white bed sheet over the window or between the light source and the subject will diffuse and help greatly. If you are still getting harsh light or bad reflections use something bright and reflective on the exact opposite side of the subject to the light source to bounce back some light, spread it out evenly and reduce the shadows. Tin foil over some card makes a very cheap and easy home made refector that works suprisingly well

A macro lens or extension tubes will allow close ups and interesting framing of the subjects which can have the biggest single improvement and keep things interesting. Finally always use a tripod, either remote shutter release or timer function, if you don’t have the former and if your camera supports it, use mirror lock up as well.

Remember you are shooting still life so there is no rush at all, take a shot or 10 and then load them onto your pc to check the large versions. If you like one then you can delete the rest, return to the camera and set up your next shot, positioning the flowers or the camera differently. Experiment and be creative, if it works great, if not just delete and return to try something differently.

And the best advice of all, no matter how many great shots you get, only post you best two or three, it often has a greater wow factor and will make people take notice. You are also more likely to get a good response and more direction from other people who only have to comment on two or three rather than a thread saturated with shots.

HTH

[Boo]

Thanks Steve thats all very useful to know. I don't have RAW facility unfortunately on my camera so although I wouldn't mind having a go with the tulip concept I'm not sure how, but I'm sure a bit of playing around plus a little help from PS I can atleast give it a bash if you can point me in the right direction lol.

I liked all your pikkies but the tulip was a little different from the classic sort of shot and yet remained subtle which is what drew me to it.

And the best advice of all, no matter how many great shots you get, only post you best two or three, it often has a greater wow factor and will make people take notice. You are also more likely to get a good response and more direction from other people who only have to comment on two or three rather than a thread saturated with shots.

Good thinking I'm definately with you on that one!