Yellow Calla

[Roman Kurywczak]

Haven't posted in a while......waaaayyyy to busy.....but spring has finally arrived to NJ so decided to do a shoot before my macro workshop down in Longwood on Sunday. Very unsusual lighting done here.....4 flashlights......all in different areas did all the lighting! As usual.......took a while to get the best results!
Canon 1D Mark lll with the Sigma 180mm macro at f22 for 10 seconds and ISO 100 tripod mounted........indoors.
I tired accentuating the outside line with my painting of the flower!

[Patrick Sparkman]

Well, I love black black backgrounds so you have my praise here. My favorite thing though are those yellow veins running up the petal.....very cool! I feel it could be a little brighter though, for some reason.

[Mitch Haimov]

Love the veins, Roman! Get this effect from shining one of the lights inside? The petal seems darker than calla lilies I've seen, but I think it works well in this image--gives it a somber mood that I find compelling. The only thing I would change would be a to throw a little more light at the stem--just enough to separate it from the BG.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Roman. The comp, sharpness, and black background are all nicely done, but I love the lighting on this one - I would never guess that you used flashlights to produce this. Very cool! :cheers:

[Norm Dulak]

Very nice. But I too would brighten that stem a bit to make it more visible.

[Dawn Currie]

Your photograph is beautiful. I would never have thought about using multiple flashlights for lighting - very creative! I may have to do some experimenting when my schedule slows down a bit.

[Brendan Dozier]

Like the light, color, shape, angle, and the black BG work great, Roman. Interesting too, because I've neve seen a yellow calla. Agree with Mitch's suggestion to lighten up stem just a bit. Nicely done!

[Ken Childs]

Yes, the veins have it! That's some creative lighting.....I'd like to see a shot of your setup. How did you manage to get 4 flashlights aimed where you wanted them aimed? However you did it, the results look great! I think the stem look fine as is.....there's enough of it showing to anchor the shot without having it distract from the flower.

I saw this variety of Calla yesterday at a local Walmart....it took all my strength to keep from buying it!:bg3:

[Roman Kurywczak]

Yes, the veins have it! That's some creative lighting.....I'd like to see a shot of your setup. How did you manage to get 4 flashlights aimed where you wanted them aimed? However you did it, the results look great! I think the stem look fine as is.....there's enough of it showing to anchor the shot without having it distract from the flower.

I saw this variety of Calla yesterday at a local Walmart....it took all my strength to keep from buying it!:bg3:
Thanks all! I debated lightening the stem a touch more but like Ken.....didn't want it to draw attention......but an easy tweak!
Ken, I'mm actually not big into set-setups! I just wing it! I was photographing with a friend, Nick Palmieri, and I brought a mini maglight, a small AA one, my led headlamp, a 4 D battery flashlight, and the monster 10 million candle power one I use for night painting. We used florist foam to stick the cala lilly into and then placed the AA and AAA flashlights right into the foam backlighting the calla from beneath. Nick used one flashlight he had to paint the front.....just a touch and I used a AA maglight to paint the rim and inside. Distance to subject with the flashlights plays a key role in the look! Trial and error (mostly error at first:bg3:) and checking the histogram and LCD will do the rest. Nick is a doctor......so we even used some kind of scope (the kind they use to look into your ear) to light the inside of the calla......until the battery ran out so we switched to the maglight. Doing this in a dark room helps as then you can see how each flashlight affects the subject. We easily spent 45 minutes just setting up and playing with the lights.....both natural and flash added......until I got the look I wanted.

I just prentend the flower is a supermodel:eek:......less tempermental:t3......and toy with the lighting until I get the look I am after. It's fun and you can get some pretty wild effects!

[Anita Bower]

Gorgeous! Dramatic! Excellent! The lighting is superb. Thanks for explaining how you did it. Your persistence and patience paid off. The lines are beautiful. But, I'm primarily drawn to the graceful curve of the petals. If I were to make a change, it would be to lighten up a bit the lower part of the flower just above the stem. But, it is marvelous as it.

[Norm Dulak]

Reflecting upon this further, I still think it is a very nice photo except for the too dark stem.

But I wonder whether "painting" the flower and using four flashlights was really necessary. Did you actually need that very unusual lighting?

Photoshop CS5 and Viveza 2 provide powerful tools that IMO could have achieved a similar result, with much less effort. And what happened to your usual use of the twin strobes as a starting point? That system gives you remarkable initial control of light, and the software I've mentioned can easily take you wherever you want to go from that starting point. :S3:

[Roman Kurywczak]

Reflecting upon this further, I still think it is a very nice photo except for the too dark stem.

But I wonder whether "painting" the flower and using four flashlights was really necessary. Did you actually need that very unusual lighting?

Photoshop CS5 and Viveza 2 provide powerful tools that IMO could have achieved a similar result, with much less effort. And what happened to your usual use of the twin strobes as a starting point? That system gives you remarkable initial control of light, and the software I've mentioned can easily take you wherever you want to go from that starting point. :S3:
Hey Norm,
All very valid points......but I tend to do everything in camera. Why? Many contests and such do not allow such manipulation......but for my personal satisfaction, I try to prove that I can do it in camera:bg3:! I think those programa are effective and can do great things.......so by no means am I against them.......like I said, I want it right in camera.......so I spend less time behind the computer......which I don't enjoy as much!
BTW, I did do an image with the twin lights.......it would not give me the rim lighting I was after and I didn't like it as much! I did use it for an Iris......with flashlights......so I was just showing the possibilities if you don't have flash..... but have time and a great subject!

[Norm Dulak]

Hey Norm,
All very valid points......but I tend to do everything in camera. Why? Many contests and such do not allow such manipulation......but for my personal satisfaction, I try to prove that I can do it in camera:bg3:! I think those programa are effective and can do great things.......so by no means am I against them.......like I said, I want it right in camera.......so I spend less time behind the computer......which I don't enjoy as much!
BTW, I did do an image with the twin lights.......it would not give me the rim lighting I was after and I didn't like it as much! I did use it for an Iris......with flashlights......so I was just showing the possibilities if you don't have flash..... but have time and a great subject!

Makes sense, Roman. And again, it is a nice image. :S3: