poinsettia -- just before it became compost

[Dennis Bishop]

Santa brought me a light box. (The reaction from the folks in the local photo group: Why???) I managed to resist experimenting until the poinsettias started losing their petals. Then, it was no holds barred. There were pieces of pink and white fine netting in the pots. I put them and as little dirt as possible (it's not hard to see with the backlighting) on the light box and followed that with some leaves and petals. A few days later, this is what happened.

Nikon D3S, ISO 200, f/8, seven-exposure HDR at 1 EV increments, zoom lens at 24 mm

processing

• cropped (I knew 24 mm was way too wide, but that's another story)
• Topaz Simplify -- Watercolor II, 87% opacity, partially masked to reduce webbing
• Alien Skin Snap Art -- saved Watercolor preset, Color blend mode, 28%
• Hue/Saturation adjustment layer -- completely desaturated everything but the poinsettia part
• Flypaper Textures -- texture, Hard Light blend mode, 66%, masked from flower
• blue-green layer, Color, 9%, masked from flower
• Photo Filter adjustment layer -- similar color masked from flower (Why not just this layer or the one before? I'd like to know, too, but I can't remember.)
• four black & white layers, Multiply -- two Fractalius with different masks, one 100%, the other 60%; Snap Art Stylize Line Art, 11%; Simplify edges, 51%, masked from background

[Nancy Bell]

I love my lightbox and this is where it shines...having something with translucence for the light to come through in various opacities! Love the juxtaposition of shapes and lines; the V's and sharp points of the veins & poinsettia leaves, the light rectangle behind and the irregular lines of the draped material in the bkgd. I would probably not use the 4 tiny triangle corners. The delicate color & textures of the bkgd beautifully display the glowing reds and shapes of the poinsettia. BTW, great title! No undue sentimentality here!

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hi, Dennis, I can tell you're going to have fun with your lightbox! This has made me want to dig mine out and get to work. I love what you did with the background. Anther suggestion which is fun is to buy Japanese fine art paper (a lot of them are made from bamboo and are translucent) and lay them on the light pad. My local art store has probably 100 different styles. I agree with Nancy about the corners. I can hardly wait to see more

[Dennis Bishop]

. . . Anther suggestion which is fun is to buy Japanese fine art paper (a lot of them are made from bamboo and are translucent) and lay them on the light pad. My local art store has probably 100 different styles. . . .

Thanks for the paper suggestion, Cheryl. I'll check on that the next time I'm close to the art store. It sounds like a great idea.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Dennis, you wryly summed up my take on photo clubs... I really love the colors and composition, as well as the translucence of the bracts. The green one at the bottom, which lies along the stem, really adds interest and makes a great anchor point. Very nice!

[Diane Miller]

Gorgeous, and I love the translucence and the BG!!

[Randall Farhy]

Dennis- sweet blend of texture, shape and colors. The subtle tones in the bg support the more vibrant (but not overpowering) flower quite well. Agree re: green corners-they look like mounts and don't do much for the image. The last time I used a light box was to edit a slide shoot-might have to dig it out and give it a go if this weather doesn't break soon!

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Really like where the flower is overlapping, and the BG colour is different and very nice. I agree with the maybe getting rid of the corners. Nice work Dennis.

[Judy Howle]

I agree with the above comments including the ones about the corners. I love the translucence of the petals and the background is gorgeous! Your processing is A+.

[Anita Bower]

A really beautiful effect!! I especially like the bg, the textures and translucence. The translucence of the poinsettia is also lovely--creating lighter and darker areas. You achieved your usual special and gorgeous look. I agree with all that has been said above.
To those of you who use lightboxes--what size and type should I buy?

[Dennis Bishop]

Thank you, Anita.

My lightbox is an Artograph 940 Lightpad. The box says it's 12x17 inches. I wouldn't want anything smaller for what I think I'll be doing. This morning, I stopped at a fairly decent local art store to follow up on Cheryl's tip about fine art papers for use with a lightbox. It sounds like a great idea, but I only found one that I thought might work, and I'll likely use it only sparingly because it's a strong pattern.

[Diane Miller]

I have a large and very inexpensive lightbox, but I seldom think to assemble the pieces to use it that way. It's a piece of translucent plexi about 2.5 ft sq that I prop between two chairs, or crates if I want it lower. Put a piece of white fom-cor on the floor and aim an off-camera flash at it (or use a couple of shop lights).

[Anita Bower]

Thank you both for the information about light boxes.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Anita, I have an Artograph that's about 12x17. The smaller ones are pretty hard to use. I like Diane's suggestion