Orchid show

[Wendy Kates]

This weekend I participated in Denise Ippolito's Longwood Gardens workshop. Longwood Gardens was holding a fabulous orchid show, so although Denise primarily steered us to the blue poppies and the nasturtium (both of which I'll post eventually), I was blown away by the beautiful patterns produced by the orchids. For this one, I used a Shadowhouse texture, and then I applied a tonal contrast in CEP. I wanted the whole image to look a little bolder so I added a layer via copy, and applied a multiply blend at about 80% opacity.

[Adhika Lie]

Beautiful, Wendy! The protruding center of the orchid (forgive my lack of proper terminology) is a little out of focus, but the composition of the orchid here is amazing. Thanks for sharing!

[Dennis Bishop]

I like the curve the flowers make. Usually, I think of flowers as being soft and delicate, but your Multiply treatment fits very well here. Nice choice of background texture, too.

[Wendy Kates]

Thanks, Adhika and Dennis. Here is the softer version of the image before I applied multiply blend. Let me know which one you prefer.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Wendy, I like both but I tend to like lighter images so would probably choose the lighter image if forced to. On the OP there is a slight halo on the top of one of the orchid petals which should be easy to fix.

[Dennis Bishop]

Now that I see it, I prefer the softer one, too. However, I could see Multiplying just the orchids a bit if you want them to make more of a statement.

[Diane Miller]

I love the drama of the OP! I might think of using the softer version for some soft focus effects, with contrast adjusted to taste.

Can't wait to see what else you got -- I'd bet it's a lot of material to play with!

[Anita Bower]

You were in my territory. Glad you were able to see the fabulous orchids at Longwood Gardens.

I find the orchids at LG difficult to photograph because of the stakes and backgrounds. You did a great job in avoiding these. Beautiful curving sweep of perfect flowers. There is something above the second flower from the left that needs to be cloned out.

I think I'd like something between the two--I like the boldness of the first, but maybe toned down just a bit.

[Wendy Kates]

Thanks, all. Anita...I agree...the orchids were difficult to photograph not only because of the background (which is why I used the texture) but also because they are located along very narrow lanes so it was impossible to set up a tripod without blocking the path. So all my orchid photos were hand-held. Here I am posting a toned down version of the first image, but a little bolder than the second. I think I like this one the best.

[Anita Bower]

I like the last post best also.
How did you get rid of the bg? I think you did it before adding the texture.
I don't know if you were at LG on a weekend, which is the busiest time. I like to go on Monday's, the quietest morning of the week. Like you, I hate having my tripod interfere with other people.

[Dennis Bishop]

I like the last one best, too.

[Wendy Kates]

Well, it only took three attempts to get it right! Thanks, all, for your input. Anita...you are right...these particular orchids didn't have all the contrasty background light that most of the other orchids in the show had...just a lot of confusing greenery, which was easier to cover up. I had the same problem photographing the blue poppies, which hopefully I'll process and post eventually. And yes, I was there on a weekend, and by about 10am it was very crowded.

[Hazel Grant]

Interesting conversations to read here. I've tried shooting in large greenhouses, too, and find some of the same problems. Hand held always seems to be the only option. I kind of like the drama of the OP. Nice work, Wendy.

[Wendy Kates]

Thanks, Hazel!

[Mitch Carucci]

They really "pop"! Beautiful. I like the first one best...

[Nancy Bell]

Very, very late to see this. Love the 3rd version. A lovely combination of the 1st 2 images. The curve creates a lovely composition of the blooms.