Gerbera daisy

[Jerry van Dijk]

From a bouqet my wife got for her birthday. The flowing shape of this gerbera daisy caught my eye, so I decided to put it in a separate vase to play around with it. BG is my piano, light is natural (I love the low winter sun for flower portraits). Focus is a bit off, because my macro tripod seems to be too unstable for my heavy rig (almost 2kg). Any suggestions for a good macro tripod are welcome!

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 200mm f/4 micro, tripod, remote shutter (MUP), ISO-100, EV -1.3, f/14, 1/80 sec.
ACR/CS5, grad filter to reduce exposure from the LR corner, clarity, vibrance, sharpness, WB and selective adjustments on the reds to approximate the right hue.


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[Jonathan Ashton]

As you know I am not a fan of dark backgrounds in general but I think this one works. I like the composition. Regards Tripod I have used Manfrotto 155 and benbo and in 2006 I bought a Gitzo 3530LS and a Mongoose head. Extortionately expensive but utterly reliable, I use the same tripod and head for everything from 180 to 100-400 to 500mm. You need a tripod that is steady and heavy enough to be able to stand firm in grass, I am sure there are cheaper alternatives to Gitzo but as I said, very expensive.......... but it has been in almost daily use for 4 years and it still operates as it did when new.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jerry. I like the tilted comp of the flower and the colors are dramatic. I think the black background works well in this instance. You might consider brightening the stem just a bit. This is very nicely done!

[PRABIR BHATTACHARYYA]

Jerry, the composition is fine. It appears to be floating in the dark and the effect is good.

I only wonder, how would this composition look with the stem being visible.

[Jerry van Dijk]

By popular demand, here's a version with more of the stem visible (using adjustment brush in ACR to increase exposure), so the flower is less 'floating'.
Thanks for your comments and suggestions!

[Ken Childs]

Jerry, I like the comp, the colors and especially the DOF you were able to get. The floating flower look was bothering me a bit so making the stem visible is a definite plus. I'm on my laptop and I really can't see the stem but I'll take your word that it's showing in the repost. Even though it's supposedly calibrated, my laptop rarely matches what I see on my desktop. :S3:

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Composition, colour and dof are nice. I like the black BG. I do like the first version more, I would have liked the stem a bit more visible in the repost, and also I would have liked the petals low left completely in shadow or with the bright areas a bit larger. Still nicely done overall.

[Bob Miller]

jerry..This works nicely for me...both the op and the repost!. Striking composition!