Graceful Glad

[Barbara Kile]

Nikon D300, 105 mm Micro Nikkor, 0.3 sec at f/16
I used the wireless Nikon macro lighting kit (handheld the flashes) to provide lighting from behind the glad and some side lighting some distance away to help give it a translucent look.

[Julie Kenward]

Barbara, welcome to the Macro/Flora forum! What an extraordinary lighting job! Your composition is very nice - just enough of the edges of the flower to give us a real sense of it without too much to detract from those beautiful stamen. As an alternate crop I think you could take some off the top and bottom and still have a perfectly lovely image...either way, it works!

Overall, I think the lighting is excellent. Some might want the brightest spot just above the stamen to be toned down a little and the darker area in the Upper left corner (ULC) pulled up a bit but it certainly works as is. The translucency of the petals is remarkable - was this indoor lighting all the way around or did you set up lighting outside?

One last thing...I think you could also selectively bump up the yellows a bit either in saturation or luminosity as that part of the flower really does draw the eye into the flower. Even with all these suggestions I still think it's to die for - you really came in with a bang!

[Ed Vatza]

I will just jump in here to say that I think the lighting is flat out spectacular, Barbara. The focus is spot on. And with the backlighting and layering of petals, I have absolutely no issue with any bright or dark spots. The image works for me just as is. Just my two cents.

[Chris Starbuck]

Barbara,
My turn to gush: knock-out lighting, excellent composition, great details, delicate pastel colors - love it!

[Danny J Brown]

Barbara - The soft purple is gorgeous and the lighting is superb. Nice image.

[Barbara Kile]

Thank you for the comments. Jules, I was set up near some windows, but in this case I found the flashes worked better than bouncing light in with a reflector. I took images of different lighting situations and liked this the best, as the yellow really lit up and drew the eye. Then there is the challenge as to how far away one wants the flash. I appreciate the feedback!

[Steve Maxson]

I would echo the comments above about the colors and lighting, Barbara. Very nicely done. I am noticing some funky jpeg artifacts (I think) around the edges of the stamens and pistol - created in PP, I suspect??

[Barbara Kile]

Could be sharpening/jpg artifacts. I don't upload high quality images for obvious reasons. So, yes, we'll blame it on PP! Thanks.

[Anita Bower]

Hi, Barbara! Glad to see you and your lovely photos here are BPN. I look forward to reading your critiques and learning from you.

This is a lovely image. I really like what you did with the lighting--worked really well. Lovely soft colors and transluscence. I also like the definition of the central parts of the Glad. Excellent!

[Don Lacy]

Wonderful image, love the curves of the petals and the 3d effect of the lighting.