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Jay Sheinfield
07-18-2010, 09:04 AM
Another flower taken while birding............that's why the long lens. I was lucky to get away with the slow shutter speed.

Comments welcome

Nikon D3s

850mm
1/100@f/16

ISO 400

Anita Bower
07-18-2010, 11:31 AM
The black bg helps the daylilies glow. Love the colors and the curls in the petals. Wish the upper lily were in sharper focus. I like the lighting--what is it?

Jay Sheinfield
07-18-2010, 04:43 PM
Hi Anita,

I couldn't get the second flower completely in focus. The lens looses a lot of contrast at f/22 and beyond. Although, I should have tried f/32 just in case, and try enhancing in PP. I did manage to get a couple of leaves and a few the stamen in focus on the second flower, a small win.
Nothing but natural light, evening just before sunset. I found a dark background, which would have been lost to distractions had I moved the camera to get greater DOF. Looking back, it may have been the smarter thing to do.

Jay

Jay

Roman Kurywczak
07-18-2010, 04:46 PM
Hey Jay,
Those daylilies are just glowing! The big glass has isolated the pair nicely. Since I now know you are OK with digital removal....eliminating some of the stems/bud above the left flower as well as the stem and bud....3rd from left...below the lily will just make a cleaner & stronger comp IMO.....the light is just fantastic!!!

Anita Bower
07-18-2010, 05:02 PM
Hi Anita,

I couldn't get the second flower completely in focus. The lens looses a lot of contrast at f/22 and beyond. Although, I should have tried f/32 just in case, and try enhancing in PP. I did manage to get a couple of leaves and a few the stamen in focus on the second flower, a small win.
Nothing but natural light, evening just before sunset. I found a dark background, which would have been lost to distractions had I moved the camera to get greater DOF. Looking back, it may have been the smarter thing to do.

Jay

Jay
You made some choices and I think having the dark BG was the way to go. Trying different f stops works for me, then I can choose which I like best. Lovely image.

Jay Sheinfield
07-18-2010, 06:48 PM
Hey Roman,

OK, here a re post work in progress, just cleaning up some of the distractions as suggested. I like it. I tried also cloning the large left stem and bud, but it lost some balance IMO. I could change my mind tomorrow........
Thanks for the feedback, large help to me!

Jay

Roman Kurywczak
07-18-2010, 06:58 PM
Hey Jay...missed one....circled it.

Jay Sheinfield
07-18-2010, 07:04 PM
Roman,

Here's the story, i agree with you and had cloned it. my wife didn't like it, so I put it back in. I'll take it back out, she'll be fine...................I kept the layer!
It's all good! Thanks.

Jay

Roman Kurywczak
07-18-2010, 07:06 PM
he, he , he....not so sure about that:D....might be wiser to leave it!

Bob Miller
07-18-2010, 07:47 PM
HI jay...lovely image with killer light...I think your repost is right on!

Jay Sheinfield
07-18-2010, 07:48 PM
here it is...............I'm no artist when it comes to this stuff.

Jay

Anita Bower
07-19-2010, 04:49 AM
Wonderful work in eliminating unnecessary elements. How do you clone them out so well, especially along the border with the parts you want to keep? Is it one of those nifty new tools added to photoshop since PS7, which is the old version I use?

Julie Kenward
07-19-2010, 07:09 AM
Beautiful image, Jay, and the clean up work only made it stronger. The light is spectacular (I have also found that shooting daylilies at sunset makes them glow like this...funny that you get the best DAYlily images at NIGHT!)

Jay Sheinfield
07-19-2010, 07:38 AM
Hi Anita,

I have tried unsuccessfully to use the new content aware healing tool in PS/CS5. So, I 'm back to the basic clone and pen tools to do all the editing. Slow and careful. The "size" of the pen/stamp and the "hardness" are variables I change consistently to get the look I am after. When the rough editing is done I go through with the clone tool at 30% to help blend the colors together. I generally use the pen/stamp toll size about 140-180 with hardness between 30-80 depending on the clarity/edge sharpness of the bordering image. In this image I used clone stamp size as small as 11 to get into the crooks. Of course, working with a back or mono-toned BG makes everything way easier..............I'm not very good at the selection tools so I take the long way around. Hope that helps.............................trial and error play a large part in my editing. Jay

Jay Sheinfield
07-19-2010, 08:03 AM
Julie,

Thanks.....I have found Day lilies to be a challenging subject, though not as tough as IRIS, which drive me nuts. I try to avoid any kind of direct light on these type of flowers, rather wait for the diffused and reflected light at sunset. morning light doesn't have the same glowing properties, it seems. That evening the light was great, aided by some clouds reflecting the warmth from the sunset. Birding (which I have just started) has been an enormous help, in appreciating how the quality of light is darn close to everything! The other advantages of evening light, there tends to be less ptotogs around! :)


Jay

Anita Bower
07-19-2010, 10:22 AM
Hi Anita,

I have tried unsuccessfully to use the new content aware healing tool in PS/CS5. So, I 'm back to the basic clone and pen tools to do all the editing. Slow and careful. The "size" of the pen/stamp and the "hardness" are variables I change consistently to get the look I am after. When the rough editing is done I go through with the clone tool at 30% to help blend the colors together. I generally use the pen/stamp toll size about 140-180 with hardness between 30-80 depending on the clarity/edge sharpness of the bordering image. In this image I used clone stamp size as small as 11 to get into the crooks. Of course, working with a back or mono-toned BG makes everything way easier..............I'm not very good at the selection tools so I take the long way around. Hope that helps.............................trial and error play a large part in my editing. Jay
Thank you for describing your method of cloning. I've never used the pen/stamp tool. So much to learn!:D