BLC Orchid

[Charles Wesley]

Don't have any orchids in bloom right now. Have my plants under artificial lights out in the garage to keep them alive. Took this back in the spring / summer. It's a hybrid with a strong cattleya look.

Canon 5D, Sigma 180 mm. f/3.5 HSM APO EX macro lens and Bogen tripod. Exposure 4 sec. @ f/13.0 400 ISO. Taken in window light.
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Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL
http://naturesphotographs.com

EOS - 1D, 5D Mk 11, Sekonic L- 358 incident/ flash meter, Sigma 15- 30 mm EX Aspherical DG DF f/3.5- 4.5, Canon EF 28- 135 mm.f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 70 -200 mm.L f/4, Sigma 180 mm. HSM f/3.5 EX DG APO Macro IF AF, Canon EF 100- 400 mm. F/4.5- 5.6 L IS, Canon EF 500 mm. f/4 L IS, 1.4 TC, 12 & 25 mm. Ext. tubes, Better Beamer, Canon 550 EX flash, Bogen 3221 tripod and Bogen tripod with Wimberley mount.

[Vida van der Walt]

Charles, the magenta and green against the black bg is stunning. Love the angle and detail as well. I'm wondering what it will look like with a bit off the top and the left hand side but it is not a big issue.:)

[Charles Wesley]

Vida,

Thanks for your kind comments. I only left my photo loose in the frame so I could have the orchid on the right in the LR intersection following the ROT's. Wish I knew how to crop my images better.

Think they would look better....
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Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

[Ken Childs]

This is beautiful, Charlie!
I think it would look better with with a bit more taken off the left side. The ROT of thirds is really a GOT (guideline of thirds) so you can't always fit it exactly. :)

[Charles Wesley]

Ken,

Thanks for the help. I just thought the extra space to the left gave the magenta lobellum ( lip ) of the orchid some space. Still need to learn more about composition & esthetics.

Thanks for the help...
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Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

[Julie Kenward]

It's stunning, Charlie. That deep lime green with the magenta and black - wow! Everything is nicely in focus and we both know how hard that is with these orchids! Excellent work here - I'd also suggest a bit off the left side.

You have it as a 9x13; I cropped it to a 7x10...If you look at the length of the leaves, I left approximately that much negative space on the left side - I think when we use the elements of the image as our "ruler" it helps balance the image nicely. See what you think.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Charlie, excellent work on two gorgeous flowers! DOF, sharpness, colors and exposure are all spot on. After Jules' repost no need to add advice on composition, although I may have cropped a little less from the left. The most important thing to me is that the distance between the right leaf and the right part of the frame is now equal to the distance between the top leaf and the top of the frame.

[Charles Wesley]

Vida, Ken, Jules & Jerry,

I actually get you on the composition. Jules example makes it clearer to me. That's why I'm a member @ B.P.N. This forum is wonderful.

Thanks everyone...
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Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL
http://naturesphotographs.com

EOS - 1D, 5D Mk 11, Sekonic L- 358 incident/ flash meter, Sigma 15- 30 mm EX Aspherical DG DF f/3.5- 4.5, Canon EF 28- 135 mm.f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 70 -200 mm.L f/4, Sigma 180 mm. HSM f/3.5 EX DG APO Macro IF AF, Canon EF 100- 400 mm. F/4.5- 5.6 L IS, Canon EF 500 mm. f/4 L IS, 1.4 TC, 12 & 25 mm. Ext. tubes, Better Beamer, Canon 550 EX flash, Bogen 3221 tripod and Bogen tripod with Wimberley mount.

[Julie Kenward]

Yeah! I love it when something "clicks" with someone! :D

Your images are always a joy to view, Charlie.

[Vida van der Walt]

The comp of the repost is just what I had in mind. Charlie, I don't know if this will help you but what I often do is make more than one crop before I do anything else to the image. I then compare the cropped images but I view them at a small size on my screen (at around 8 or 12 % of the full size). I find it helps me to zoom out when deciding on the comp.:)

[Charles Wesley]

Vida,

Thanks I never thought of doing several crops for comparisons.
Thanks so much...
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Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

[Harshad Barve]

Excellent image Charles on all counts. My choice will be OP as I love more loose compos
TFS