Decided to try Ken Childs approach of capturing indoors with natural light (plus some rear flash). Used a black drape as the bg. After many attempts with various settings, I think this one is the best. I lengthened the stem about an inch in photoshop and did just a slight color enhancement.
Agree with Denise - you did very well with this one! I'd also caution you to watch for fall off near the edges of the petals - they'll tend to pick up more of the black as they are nearer to the BG. You might try a reflector or two placed in strategic areas or else lighten those areas up a little more in post-production.
Nice composition! I like the curve of the stem and the way you kept all the stamen inside the light area of the petals so they all showed up.
Julie, I kind of liked the way the pink popped against the black, but see what you might mean about the sharp edges, so I played with it in photoshop, putting a little light behind it and a slight blur to the edges. Not sure I like it "better" but wondering what you all think.
Last edited by Hazel Grant; 05-05-2010 at 04:49 PM.
Reason: add photo
HI Hazel. You have done a really nice job with the composition and lighting. To me I prefer the softer colors of the original to your repost. Also the repost loses some of the green stem as it seems darker. TFS