My New Phalaenopsis ( Moth Orchid )

[Charles Wesley]

Here's a photo of my new Phalaenopsis ( moth orchid ) from yesterday. I got it from a local grower at our Annual St. Augustine Orchid Society Meeting.

Used my Canon 5D Mk 11, EF 70- 200 at 91 mm., 12 mm ET and stopped down to f/ 22.0. It was taken at 400 ISO and a SS of 2.5 sec. I used MLU and did a time exposure while using my Bogen tripod. My PhotoFlex diffusers really helped. This was a difficult color to capture even when using natural light.

PS/CS4
FocalBlade

Enjoy....
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Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

[Adrian David]

Fantastic colors! Look like fluorescent, to me....If mine, I wold crop a bit from the top.

[Charles Wesley]

Adrian,

Thanks for the comments. With CS/4, I had to try several presets before I got the color right in ACR. This particular orchid has a certain glow to it as you say.

Glad to get the color right...
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Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

[Anita Bower]

Fabulous color, which pops against the black BG. As you say, it is a challenging color to photography. What a gorgeous orchid! I like the angle of the stem and the attitude of the flowers.

I took the liberty of making a couple of adjustments. I croped from the top and left (I would like a bit more space to the right), and used curves to brighten up the flower. What do you think?

[Anita Bower]

I forgot to ask what MLU means. I didn't find it in the list of acronyms.

[Charles Wesley]

Anita,

Thanks for your repost. I tend to shoot loose. Love your curves work. It looks so much better now. Not so dreary. Will rework image with curves myself to get the same effect. MLU is mirror lock up. I use it on all my macros. Helps me with sharpness...
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Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

[Stu Bowie]

Great pp work Charles. The orchid really pops from the black BG. Well done.

[Charles Wesley]

Stuart,

Thanks for the kind comments. Learned from Anita to drag the highlight point in curves up to brighten the orchid blooms.

Black forces one's eyes into the picture ....
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Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine beach, FL

[Susan Griffith]

Phalaenopsis orchids always seem to have this velvety looking color.. if i can describe color that way and you captured it well. On my monitory the image seems a little dark.

-Susan

[Julie Kenward]

Charles, you know what it reminds me of? BLACKLITE POSTERS. (And I mean that in a good way!) It really gives that feeling of a three-dimensional blacklite the way you set this up and wow...is it every rich and gorgeous. I love Anita's bend in the curve - it really popped those petals!

You really bought a stunning plant...can't wait to see what else you do with it in the future.

[Charles Wesley]

Susan & Jules,

Thanks for your comments. I think I was able to capture the velvety 3 D look from the lighting. It had components of both side and back lighting. This kind of orchid can be difficult to get the color right. Again many thanks to Anita on the curves help. It was most appreciated...
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Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL

[Mike Moats]

Hey Charlie, very nice image and like the positioning. The repost of Anita's really helped bring the flowers to the forefront. Like Jules said, it looks like a black lite image, (which is good)

[Charles Wesley]

Jules & Mike,

Thanks for the comments not sure I know what a black lite poster: image is....
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Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL