Peace Lily

[Dave Woeller]

I'm not sure if this is too much processing for this forum, so if it is, I'll accept 20 lashes and move over to OOTB. This is a 3 shot HDR. It was shot with natural light on my breezeway. The background is black matboard. The 3 files make up a -2 to +2 stop bracket. Processing was through HDR Photostudio software. I did move it back to LR3 and slightly lighten the stem as I wasn't pleased with it after the tone mapping. It was shot with a tripod mounted Canon 7D and 24-105 lens using aperture priority at F/22. ISO was 400. As always I appreciate all comments and constructive guidance. Thanks.

[Anita Bower]

This photo beautifully captures the graceful curves of this flower. I especially like the touch of green in the petal. The diagonal position from corner to corner is strong. The black bg adds to the simple beauty of the flower.

If it were my photo, I would lighten and brighten it, rotate the flower a bit counter clockwise, and crop a bit. This is something along the lines of what I have in mind.

I don't know the answer to your question about the appropriateness of hdr on this forum. I will be curious to read responses by the moderators.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Dave,
It's fine here as all you did was an HDR....plenty of black BG;s have been here! I actually like the OP light....brought out some of the delicate textures! I do think you can lighten it a touch....but just need to keep the details. I like the way you lightened the stem too! Overall......nicely done!

[Ken Childs]

Hey Dave,

IMO, I'm a fan of natural looking HDR so I really like the result you got here. It is just a bit dark so as already mentioned, lightening it is a good idea....I'd like to see something between the OP and Anita's repost. I'd try cropping a small amount from the top and an even smaller amount from the left. I think I would like it better if the yellow towards the UR was separated from the petal edge so if it was possible, I would have dropped down or moved the flower to provide a different angle. It's still lovely as is so this isn't a deal killer. Overall this is well done and good usage of HDR. :)

[Dave Woeller]

Thanks so much Anita, Roman, and Ken. I feel much better knowing I didn't cross the line. I value the thoughts from each of you. After reading and seeing Anitas' repost, I was leaning towards something in between as mentioned. The original didn't seem that dark when I first posted, but I'll revisit. Just too afraid of losing the highlights. I'll need to be careful. Ken, the seperation of the yellow from the main petal sounds like a great idea for another session. Thanks for the guidance.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Dave. Good use of HDR. This looks very natural and IMO is not a candidate for OOTB. I, too, was thinking that something between the OP and Anita's repost would be just about right. I agree with Ken about the yellow touching the edge of the petal, but it's a minor point. :) Well done overall and a couple tweaks will make it even better.

[Valerio Tarone]

For me one of bet images in the recents weeks. Agree with previous comments. a question (as I woul like to do something similar nest summer in my countryhome) what's exactly is a matboard? Thanks

[Dave Woeller]

Thank you for your time and thoughts Steve, i didn't think it was a candidtae for OOTB either unless I ran some textures or filters on it.
Thank you also Valerio, the kind words. Matboard is simply a piece of the compressed paperlike material that is normaly used to make a mat boarder surrounding a picture when framing. In this case it was black. I would suppose any piece of black or other colored paper or cardboard would work as well as long as it has a fairy mat or non reflective surface.

[Chris Ober]

Wonderful work and HDR. I like the darker version originally posted.

[Dave Woeller]

Thanks Chris, There are always so many possibilities :)