Daisy Swirl

[Barbara Kile]

I set out this day to go to the Botanical Gardens, with my 80-200 f/2.8 lens (lens w/tripod collar necessary) with the sole purpose of doing zoom swirls. I can do them handheld sometimes quicker than on tripod, but when you are trying to be precise, you talk to yourself and people think you're weird, but..... what else is new? After checking the zoom range I wanted, I set my camera to 8 multiple exposures and began giving myself instructions: zoom a little, rotate, zoom a little, rotate. The motions are very small and you can't get out of order or miss a step - including a step every so often to move the lens slightly to refocus on the central bloom. So, if you have a Nikon or Pentax DSLR, give this a try.
f/11; 1/60"; Nikon D300

[denise ippolito]

Barbara, I was thinking of picking up a used Nikon just so I could do this effect in-camera. Really love the overall look and colors. The placement of the single flower head is nice.:)

[Barbara Kile]

Thanks, Denise. For some reason most of the workshops I attend are with Nikon pros, (or if they shoot Canon, they also have a Nikon), but one in particular last year was a Canon user who taught these techniques. One day, he couldn't stand it any longer - he went out to a camera store and bought a D300 w/ 18-200 mm VR lens! LOL

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Love this effect Barbara. Very well done.

[Julie Kenward]

What an incredible image, Barbara! That one perfect flower head in the middle of all that colorful zoom - a true keeper! Only thing I could think to suggest for next time would be to try to visualize the main flower in the ROT's position to get an even stronger composition (if that is, indeed, possible!) Beautiful and creative image!

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Even after reading the explanation I am not sure what you did Barbara. Great technical work in getting this shot. Almost wants to make you go out and get a Nikon!!!! Love the swirl.

[Barbara Kile]

Thanks, Akos, Jules, and Jackie. Jules: one can manage having the central flower out of the center - just one more technical thing to deal with. Easier to crop after the fact! :D However, I went back and looked at my raw file and I did manage to get the flower out of the center, so this only has a slight crop to it really.
Jackie, it's just a zoom in and then a rotation of the lens in the collar for each of the 8 shots. One of the real gurus of this technique is Tony Sweet if you want to check out his stuff.
:)

[denise ippolito]

Anyone interested in more information on this technique Fabs has started a thread w/ step by step details.Patti Edens also supplied a link to a CS4 script for Canon users by Tony Sweet so scroll down to the bottom.Thank you Barbara for sharing your technique with everyone.
http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ad.php?t=48263

[Christopher Miller]

Beautiful work, Barbara! Love the bright colors, and the composition and effect are simply stunning. :)

[Kerry Perkins]

Very cool Barbara! What a lovely image. Now we are going to have to put scale marks on our focus rings and tripod collars! Thanks so much for sharing this technique.

[Barbara Kile]

Thanks to Denise, Fabs and Patti for links to more information. Thanks Christopher and Kerry! Remember to talk to yourself - you miss a step or forget what number of shot you're on and that stinks! (The camera tells you how many shots are left thank goodness!)

[Indranil Sircar]

What a beautiful composition! Excellent choice of colors. Thanks for sharing the technique.

[Harold Davis]

this is way cool, barbara!!! the main flower anchors it nicely and the colors are really nice!!!!!

[Barbara Kile]

Thanks, Indranil and Harold!

[Cheryl Slechta]

Barbara, the technique here is amazing. Thanks so much for the information with us. This has a very
surreal look to it. I like it a lot. :)

[Barbara Kile]

Thanks, Cheryl!