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Roman Kurywczak
06-17-2010, 09:31 PM
From my recent Longwood Gardens trip with Dave and Nick......yes, I did leave the water lillies for 2 minutes. This orchid wasn't in the main orchid room but along the path to the rose/hibiscus room. I tried to isolate it against the dark green BG....took numerous comps including full front.....like this slightly offset view best. Kept the BG dark as shot and only did normal PP'ing on the bloom. Did I mention I love my twin flashes?:D!!!
F32....go figure;)....at ISO 400 for 1/250 sec. and the MT24 twin flashes at +1/3 hand held.

denise ippolito
06-17-2010, 10:34 PM
Roman, The lighting looks great. I think you did a great job isolating this Orchid. Sounds like you guys were having fun!:)

Dave Mills
06-17-2010, 11:32 PM
Hi Roman, Very nice..good eye seeing this since I generally went very quickly through that room. Good lighting on the subject(those twin flashes),sharp throughout and an unusual specimen. Muted backround with good stem placement. Well handled!
Denise, we had a great time and you know first hand how theres no better place to shoot flowers with an unlimited assortment of interesting and unusual species...

Dave Woeller
06-18-2010, 08:32 AM
Love the seperation of the flower from the dark background. I was on my first visit to Longwood that day (though not part of your group) and was in a bit of sensory overload. I'll definately return.

Julie Kenward
06-18-2010, 01:58 PM
I love the orchid, Roman, but I think I might prefer an even darker BG. I find myself wanting to see more of what's back there or less. Hmmm...

The flower is AWESOME, though. Good details throughout. ;)

Vida van der Walt
06-18-2010, 02:05 PM
Beautiful flower and great shot Roman. Love the detail and comp. Have to agree with Jules on the bg.:)

Anita Bower
06-18-2010, 06:37 PM
Good job! Photographing orchids at Longwood Gardens is always challenging, mostly because of the BGs. I like how you handled that problem. I like the composition. The yellow seems to be a bit too bright, but since no one else mentioned it, it must be within the acceptable range. Unusual looking orchid.

Roman Kurywczak
06-19-2010, 03:04 PM
Thanks all! Well.....darkening the BG is an easy fix but I do wonder if it will just be too black?.....will explore it though and yes Anita.....yellows are real close and I actually pulled back on them! I do bring my fake/real BG's with me.....really helps at longwood although I didn't use it in this case.

Anita Bower
06-19-2010, 03:37 PM
I do bring my fake/real BG's with me.....really helps at longwood although I didn't use it in this case.
How do you hold your own backgrounds in place when shooting at Longwood? How big are they? Etc.

Roman Kurywczak
06-19-2010, 11:00 PM
How do you hold your own backgrounds in place when shooting at Longwood? How big are they? Etc.
Hey Anita,
A few ways you can do this....assistant/friend.....best although not always possible ....camera on tripod...10 second timer...you hold BG or use a plamp to hold BG and HH. You can do as small as letter size......but I prefer 13x19....always use matte paper and I mount it on mat board. Back side is either white or black....high key or black BG.....and I also print sky or greenery Bg's too! Hope this helps.

Anita Bower
06-20-2010, 04:47 AM
Hey Anita,
A few ways you can do this....assistant/friend.....best although not always possible ....camera on tripod...10 second timer...you hold BG or use a plamp to hold BG and HH. You can do as small as letter size......but I prefer 13x19....always use matte paper and I mount it on mat board. Back side is either white or black....high key or black BG.....and I also print sky or greenery Bg's too! Hope this helps.
Thanks!