This One's For Charlie

[Julie Kenward]

Charles Wesley has been posting the most beautiful orchid photos here in our little forum for over a year now and I couldn't take it any longer - I just had to find out what all the fuss was about. Today I purchased two medium sized orchids.

This is from the first set of images I created today with my Canon 100mm macro lens and my set of Kenko extension tubes. I added a light vignette blur around the edges - everything else was normal pp.

Canon 40D, EF 100mm f/2.8 macro & Extension tubes
f3.5 @ 1/30th, ISO 1600 (Yes, you read that right - the light coming in from outside was very overcast so I went for broke!)
Manual mode, pattern metering, fill flash, handheld (with arms resting on a table).

[Allen Sparks]

Julie, I really like the soft focus here and the warm colors. To me, this has an interestinng abstract feel to it that is very pleasing. well done.

[Charles Wesley]

Jules,

Thanks for the kind words. This is really nice. Love the colors, composition and soft feel here. Can't wait to see more. My orchids are way behind schedule right now. It's very upsetting.

Glad to see your lovely post. It makes me feel better...
___________________
Charlie Wesley
St Augustine Beach, FL

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Such a beautiful looking orchid. Love the rich colours.
And most importantly how precisely you've positioned yourself to bring out a perfect symmetry in the image.
Love it all the way...

[Adrian David]

Lovely colors and soft feeling! I think I'm gonna buy some orchids....:)

[Julie Kenward]

Thanks everyone. Charlie, I'm sure everything will be alright - maybe spring is just a bit late coming around this year? In any case, I thank you for inspiring me to buy a couple of orchids - they are so beautiful!

[Mike Moats]

Very nice comp and DOF choice. Love the patterns and colors.

[Julie Brown]

Very nice soft focus image, Jules. I love the colors. Great shot at ISO 1600 with the 40D!:D

[Markus Jais]

I like the perfect symmetry in this shot. Wonderful light and fantastic colors.
Great work with DOF.

Markus

[Charissa]

Ditto Markus, very nice shot.

[Anita Bower]

I love the colors and composition! I'm a fan of bright colors and centered compositions. Your point of focus is just right. Lovely image!!!:)

[Nick Palmieri]

ISO 1600...very nice...I like the soft focus...Although I have not shot a lot of orchids it seems to me that they look a lot better centered than most flowers. I am a little bothered by the lack of sharpness in the fold in the center of the flower but certainly not an image destroyer. Great colors and composition.

[Ken Childs]

Very, very nice! Those colors are patterns are wonderful!

Orchid macros have always fascinated me because they no longer look like a plant. This look more like something that would be found on a tropical coral reef.

[Vida van der Walt]

Beautiful image Jules. The colours in this are wonderful and the yellow part of the orchid has a 3D feel to it. Love the softness and I feel like I want to eat it (it reminds me of a soft gum candy/sweet):).

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Jules never would have thought of this shot. (Looks like you got a phalenopsis (sp?). They are so easy to grow!) Like the centered comp. Interested why you chose 3.5?

[Julie Kenward]

Jackie, if I remember correctly, it was to keep the little "tails" at the end of this piece from showing - by stopping way down they became invisible to the lens and let me a clean shot at the inside area. If I had stopped down I would have had those little tails creeping in to the frame on both sides.