White Cyclamen 2

[Anita Bower]

I'm exploring white-on-white.

Nikon D300, Sigma 105mm macro, f51 (relative or effective f stop), 2.5 sec., ISO 125, manual focus (live view), manual exposure for high-key, WB preset-manual. Tripod, natural light, indoors, foam board reflectors. RAW conversion Elements 7. PP: Topaz Detail: bring out some detail and convert to B&W. Added color in PS7. Some cropping.

As always, I look forward to C&C. :)

[Charles Wesley]

Anita,

I like the in tight composition on this one. Always liked High Key images. Keep em coming...
____________________
Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

[Allen Sparks]

I like the white and gray tones and the texture of the stem giving contrast. nice.

[Julie Kenward]

First, I love the comp. I love how big and wide the petals feel within the frame of the image. I know cyclamen have that weird "upside down" thing going on with the stem but if you had been able to get maybe one more step to the right so we could see that stem go into the center a little bit more I think that would be the only way to improve upon this lovely comp.

I love the white on white. (No surprise there!) I do think the two largest petals on both the left and right sides of the frame have areas that are a bit lacking in detail - this could be intentional because of the high key look but I'd really look at them closer and see if you couldn't bring them JUST this side of where they are so the tiniest detail was present in all areas of the leaves. It might take a curves adjustment or it could be you'll have to darken it all abit and then erase 99% of the area to manage it. (I'm also thinking Arthur Morris did a tutorial or discussion on using linear burn mode to bring down a hot white so you might go looking for that on BPN.) In any case, it's a lovely image. I think with a few very slight, very minor tweaks you could take it totally over the top.

[Mike Moats]

Hey Anita, I think you are doing a great job on these flower comps and love the look your getting. Well done.

[Vida van der Walt]

Another beautiful white on white image Anita. Very artistic and it has a serene feel to it.:)

[Anita Bower]

First, I love the comp. I love how big and wide the petals feel within the frame of the image. I know cyclamen have that weird "upside down" thing going on with the stem but if you had been able to get maybe one more step to the right so we could see that stem go into the center a little bit more I think that would be the only way to improve upon this lovely comp.

I love the white on white. (No surprise there!) I do think the two largest petals on both the left and right sides of the frame have areas that are a bit lacking in detail - this could be intentional because of the high key look but I'd really look at them closer and see if you couldn't bring them JUST this side of where they are so the tiniest detail was present in all areas of the leaves. It might take a curves adjustment or it could be you'll have to darken it all abit and then erase 99% of the area to manage it. (I'm also thinking Arthur Morris did a tutorial or discussion on using linear burn mode to bring down a hot white so you might go looking for that on BPN.) In any case, it's a lovely image. I think with a few very slight, very minor tweaks you could take it totally over the top.

I always appreciate concrete suggestions to improve my images. I found the tutorial you mentioned, but that didn't work in this case, nor did curves, etc. What I did was go back to the RAW file, convert it again so as to show some detail in those two petals. Then, I put the original image on top of the new image, added a mask, and with a brush at about 17% opacity, allowed the darker areas of the new image to show though. What do you think? Is it enough of a difference? There really isn't much detail there at all.

[Anita Bower]

Thank you Charles, Allen, Jules, Mike and Vida for your comments and encouragement. :)

[Julie Kenward]

It's very minor but it's the minor things that make a good image great. ;) I feel it does make a difference - the question is do you?

[Anita Bower]

It's very minor but it's the minor things that make a good image great. ;) I feel it does make a difference - the question is do you?

I don't know. I think I need to see them printed. Either way, I learned how to do a few more things in pp! :D