I just adore these flowers! The lines are so strong yet so soft. This one was a beautiful yellow, magenta and green in the original. I cut and pasted the flower out of the bouquet and set it on a black background. I then did a black & white conversion and finished by burning & dodging specific areas.
Jules,
Very nicely done! I like the way the back edge of the flower's mouth mirrors the front edge's shape from this viewpoint. The throat of the flower is sufficiently OOF where it exits the frame that my eye stays in frame. And you got the lighting just right to emphasize both the veins in the petal and the depth from near edge to far edge. The extension of black canvas above the edge of the image leaves a (dim) line at UR; it's a little distracting (though it took me a good 5 minutes to notice!). I would either crop back down to that line, or very carefully fade it out.
Chris, I had to go back and look at this THREE TIMES to see what you were talking about! How did I miss that??? There are days I'd keep my 48-year-old thighs if God would just give me back my 22-year-old eyes!
Jules: I really like your composition and the lighting on this one. I would prefer to see a little more DOF . What technique do you use for B&W conversion?
Joanna, I almost always use a b&w action that I purchased from 'EZ Actions' that does an outstanding job on b&w conversion. (I think I paid about $8 for it and worth every penny!) It gives you full control over every step of the process and puts everything in individual layers so you can go back and readjust individual elements. They also have a very nice Sepia and Chocolate brown action that are about the same price. All of their actions can be purchased separately and it gives you a great way to learn how they do what they do because you can unflatten the layers (in history) and see what each component to the process is and how it works together.
Now, as for the DOF...yeah, I'd have liked a little more, too. This was in a floral arrangement at the front desk and I was snapping during working hours so I was a bit rushed! :D;):D
I would say definitely look at their "Pro Black & White" and "Pro Chocolate." Those two are different than anything I've ever downloaded free from the Internet. I own several others but don't use them as much - the Sepia, the Soft Effects, and the Focus Select. Still...for $6-8 an action, you can't really go wrong.
If you have or will upgrade to CS4, check out the new B&W adjustment layer. Lots of flexibility. A selective adjustment tool that lets you click & drag in the image to brighten or darken a particular color without having to figure out which channel it's in.
Michael, there was overhead office lighting, some lighting from the next room's windows and then I used the on camera flash with a -1 flash compensation. So, basically, any and all kinds!
Lily
Posting Permissions
