pink lilly 2

[Hazel Grant]

Decided to try Ken Childs approach of capturing indoors with natural light (plus some rear flash). Used a black drape as the bg. After many attempts with various settings, I think this one is the best. I lengthened the stem about an inch in photoshop and did just a slight color enhancement.

1/60, aperture setting, f22, 200 iso, 28mm. Nikon D40x.

[denise ippolito]

Hazel, I think this post is much better. The black BG and the colors look good. I think just a touch more sharpening to the center. Very nicely done:)

[Julie Kenward]

Agree with Denise - you did very well with this one! I'd also caution you to watch for fall off near the edges of the petals - they'll tend to pick up more of the black as they are nearer to the BG. You might try a reflector or two placed in strategic areas or else lighten those areas up a little more in post-production.

Nice composition! I like the curve of the stem and the way you kept all the stamen inside the light area of the petals so they all showed up.

[Mike Moats]

Hey Hazel, another nice comp, like the sharp details and pops well against the black BG.

[Hazel Grant]

Julie, I kind of liked the way the pink popped against the black, but see what you might mean about the sharp edges, so I played with it in photoshop, putting a little light behind it and a slight blur to the edges. Not sure I like it "better" but wondering what you all think.

[Bob Miller]

HI Hazel. You have done a really nice job with the composition and lighting. To me I prefer the softer colors of the original to your repost. Also the repost loses some of the green stem as it seems darker. TFS

[Ken Childs]

Hazel, this is definitely a BIG step in the right direction. I like the colors in the repost but overall the OP looks better to me.