DLFC - Lighted Lilly

[Brendan Dozier]

Propped up this lilly on table in darkened room, shinning a pen flashlight inside the flower.
Combined that with some flill flash (-2). Experimented with different shooting and lighting settings & angles. Used a burgundy colored blanket as backdrop, then sampled that color in PS to make more uniform BG. Cloned out a few spots, rotated to vertical, cropped, standard ACR & PP.

7D, EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, tripod w/cable release
Flash Exposure Comp. -2
SS 0.6
Av 9.0
ISO 200

C & C welcome & appreciated,

- Brendan

[Dave Leroy]

Wow! Quite amazing what can be done with a few simple tools, techniques and a flower stem.

Lovely and good for you.

The only thing I wonder about is if there is a way to add some contrast to the stem to accentuate the light and dark and particularly the curving highlight lines.

Great stuff.
Dave

[kostas nianiopoulos]

Just great !!! The light here is amazing well done !!!

[Ken Childs]

Hey Brendan, your lighting on this is wonderful! I love that glow! The BG looks really good, too! I think I would have liked a little external lighting on that petal edge near the upper center but it's not a deal breaker. I'd be curious to see a version without the flower cut off at the top. Overall, this is a great job done with the challenge! :S3:

[Grady Weed]

Very nice as is! Love the curves and rich background color. A more full frame would be nice, including the top of the lily. The light illuminating the stem is a nice idea.

[Allen Sparks]

beautiful lighting and great subject to use it with. wonderful image! I would also like to see a version with the full plant but this works for me as is.

[jack williamson]

Excellent Brendan, everything that you did from (propped up this lily on a table to standard acr & pp)

worked. I love looking at this. Thanks

Jack

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks for your comments folks, very much appreciated.

Unfortunately, this is FF - I would have liked to have included the upper part too. It was a bit withered, so I tried to frame as much as I could, and still keep a clean graphic look with the curves and lines.

This took a lot of tries to get and the constant adjustment of the tripod, subject, and lighting really did a number on my back!! :S3:

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Brendan, I like this very much! BG color nicely complements the flower. I don't mind that the top of the flower is not in the frame. Actually, I like that it's not! It gives this image a nice, abstract feeling. I love how the spiralling lines guide the eye through the frame. Well done!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Brendan,
Besides a bit of a rotation to make more of a diagonal.......but the lighting and comp are very dramatic! Way to embrace the challenge and very nicely done!

[Anita Bower]

Gorgeous! Love the luminosity of the flower against the dark bg. I like the burgundy bg, instead of black. Beautiful lines and details. Great crop. Beautiful work.

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks very much for your comments, Jerry, Roman, and Anita.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Wow love it this would make a terrific print

[Nick Palmieri]

Really sweet! Thanks for sharing your technique.

[Grady Weed]

Congratulations.

[Doug Brown]

Super image Brendan! Very cool!

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks Doug!