Purple

[Kaushik Balakumar]

I liked the curving petal in this flower. Wanted to rim-light the edges.
Used 2 continuous lamps from back of the flower on left & right. Used a small reflector to throw some subtle light in the front.

Techs:
Nikon D300 + Tamron 180mm macro + tripod
f/22, 1s, ISO200

Critiques/suggestions to improve are most welcome.

P.S. Best to view the image against a dark BG.

[Norm Dulak]

Kaushik:

The positioning, color, sharpness and graceful curves of the subject are all excellent. But for me, the subject is simply too dark. :eek:

Can you brighten your subject a bit, to make its beauty even more evident? :S3:

[Steven Kersting]

I agree w/ Norm, just a bit more detail in the front would be nice. (That could be a monitor difference between you and us). I also think the W/B is a bit off, looks like the light sources were incandescents.

[Julie Kenward]

I also agree with the others on the darkness and wb but I do love where you were going with this one. To see it's curves outlined against the black BG is beautiful and really brings out the graciousness of this flower.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Kaushik, I like the effect of the flower "emerging" from it's dark BG. I would crop some off the right to put the ROT hotspot in the curve.

[OvidiuCavasdan]

I like the idea but I find it too dark for a flower image. Looking at the nice curved petal on black reminds me of smoke. I imagine it vertical, from another angle if possible, with the tip behind the flower or shooting more close up, leaving the tip out of the frame...just some smoke like curves on black...weird...

[Adrian David]

I like it very much! Against a dark BG it does look better! I think that if you will brighten it up a little in the center of the flower, it would look better...just a bit more light...

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Thank you all for your thoughts/feedback. I do have other frames with more details in the center. The reason I kept it dark was to give more prominence to the rim-lighting & the curving edges.
However, I shall re-process it with tad more details in front portion and post it again.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Kaushik. I view this as "art" (whatever that might mean :S3:) rather than a flower portrait, and in that sense I'm fine with the darker front of the flower which nicely achieves your goal of emphasizing the rim lighting. I think I would prefer a tighter comp taking some from both sides to make it a vertical presentation. Well done.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Kaushik,
I'm with Steve on this one.....as a pure flower image....yeah, it's dark.....but I love the rim light and concept. It does look like smoke! My only recommendation is to perhaps show a hair more stem next time.....and put the blom on a slight diagonal. With the room around you should be able to do that rather easily. I think the one with a bit more light would also look great. I for one am always a sucker for dramatic/bold lighting.....so this one works for me.

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Thank you for sharing your views.
Here's the same image with slightly enhanced front side details.

How does this version work for you... ?

[Adrian David]

I like the repost, better...

[Anita Bower]

You succeeded in creating beautiful rim light and capturing the gorgeous curves of this Calla Lily. Wonderful dark and luscious image. Great idea and execution. I'd like something between the two posts--tending towards the dark one. Also, I'd crop a bit on 3 side. Gorgeous work!!

[Mitch Haimov]

Very compelling image. I prefer the darker version, where the darkness is clearly intentional and part of the "art." The repost appears more like an accidentally underexposed "seed packet shot." But I do like it with more stem showing; to me, the stem should show a little beyond the taper so it doesn't appear clipped. Great work!

[Ken Childs]

I'm in the art camp on this one. :bg3:

The flower and the lighting in the OP look good to me. I agree that a tighter crop might fit this tall flower better.

[Brendan Dozier]

Really nice elegant light and compostion, Kaushik. The lighting really enhances the curves and velvet like texture, and the rich dark purple looks great against the black BG. Good suggestions made and repost looks great! :5

[denise ippolito]

Kaushik, Really beautiful lighting and the dramatic look fits the flower well. I think more stem and a vertical comp would be my preference but this is truly a lovely image.:S3: