Tulip Impression

[Adhika Lie]

First time posting on this sub. Maybe I don't have the right equipment (no macro lens/speed light equipments), but shooting flower is my nemesis. I find it extremely hard to find a pleasing composition and it's so easy to blow out any color channel (especially the red on my Nikon). Once in a while, I get what I think is a nice composition. I would appreciate all inputs on this one.

Spring is in full force here in LA and I was at the Descanso Garden to look at the blooming tulips. This one is a triptychs of three photos created using the D750 and the Nikkor 70-200 f/4. Shooting specs various focal length (185mm, 170mm, 190mm) at f/14, ISO100, 1/8. The small aperture is mostly to get the long exposure effect on the flowers. I did not shoot with the intention of creating a triptychs but found it creates a story as a whole.

Processing is pretty much standard exposure fine tuning and a little background clean up (clone and content aware tools). I had to dial down the clarity and contrast on certain areas to fix color transitions by using local brush adjustment on Lightroom.


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[Diane Miller]

Very nice!! I'd consider flipping the rightmost frame horizontally so the tulip is leaning into the frame.

Reds and yellows are often a problem with Canons -- nice to hear it isn't just us!! It seems that the default Adobe Standard sometimes overdoes them (with help from the lighting situation). Just switch to Camera Standard, Neutral or Faithful and see if you get a starting point from which you can increase saturation or Vibrance, rather than trying to de-saturate reds. But do the tonal adjustments first, as increasing contrast with the various sliders will also increase saturation.

Hope to see you here often!!

[Jonathan Ashton]

What a good idea! I am not very imaginative at all and so I view images like this with some scepticism but I really like it. I agree about flipping the RHS image laterally I think that will help hold it all together. Just maybe the central image is a little wavy or swirly - but what do I know? Well done you have given me some food for thought.

[Adhika Lie]

Diane & Jonathan, thank you! I tried flipping the right most frame. It's a little weird. But it's probably I am so used to this picture, it just looked wrong. I have saved the flipped version on disk, I will take a look at it again in a week and see if I am still attached to this one.

Jonathan, I don't think this method works for every flower. I find the vertical format and moving the camera ups and downs works really well with the tulips. I didn't find the horizontal format pleasing. I think this is mostly driven by the shape of the flower itself. So, the vertical motion should work with roses when they haven't "cracked" but I would be hesitant applying this to a rose in full bloom. Maybe I will give other flowers a try. :)

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Adhika, this is lovely! I like the abstract feel while still recognizing the tulips and I also like the three images together. I can see this hanging on the wall. For abstract images like this, I think you can get away with a little blown color. Only when you want to capture each and every detail in the petals, you're in trouble. Just as a little consolation: red and yellow tulips are the worst when it comes to controlling the colors, exposure and dynamic range, especially if you also want to capture the stamen, which generally are very darkly colored.

[Diane Miller]

Reds and yellows can loose detail easily in some light, at least in the converters I have used, but (unless the exposure is way too high) there is usually a good fix in looking at the various camera profiles (in the camera calibration tab in LR/ACR) and then using the significant leeway of the adjustments in the General section. Adding white balance and the HSL adjustments when needed should take care of any but the most blown out image.

[Adhika Lie]

Thanks Jerry! Absolutely right, I was not exactly trying to retain details here but more to make sure that the tone did not "split" abruptly while keeping the vibrant colors. HSL layers really help.

I still can't see the last flower on the right flipped though. Haha. I am sorry, it's probably just my quirk.