[matthew]

Last sunday, I did something completely out of character. I went to a special two-hour 'photographers only' session at a large orchid show. I read a lot about orchids, asked some people about how to photograph them, looked at photos on the web, and, naturally, practiced on the only plant in my house.



Most of the events' photos used some combination of tripod, 35mm Macro lens (70mm equiv.), and flash. The lighting was horrible, being a mix of sunlight and different incandescent sources, with the ratio changing depending on where the plant was in the room. So, colours are highly suspect, even with my normally excellent auto WB.

I'd love to hear any comments and critiques, either general comments on techniques and presentation or specific points on any individual image.

Thanks!

http://robertsonphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/1202611





("...and now for something completely different...")

[noisynoodle]

Well, all I can say really is "Excellent series". The only one I wasn't too sure about was the B&W one....the rest are all very good. I like the fact that you have retained their natural look. I've seen so many photos of orchids ( and other flowers) where overenthusiastic pp has made them look plasticky...not so here!

[Petographer]

I like the series of shots also. Very nice and the lighting in most cases is great. I have to say on your posted image though, yikes!:o

[shuttertalk]

Fantastic series, Mr. Robertson - I have a soft spot for flowers, and I think they're excellent! My favourite is the three orange flowers in a row.

Any tips on flower photography you can post? My own flower pics seem really boring by comparison...

Good to see you're putting your smugmug gallery to good use.

p.s. that's not how you clean the sensor!!!

[matthew]

Thanks, NN, and I have to agree with you about the B&W. I wasn't too happy with the photo in colour - the reproduction is very harsh - and was thinking that I've never seen an orchid in black and white. I have a softer treatment as well, but it wasn't that different from a normal photo so I didn't include it.

Petographer, I'm particularly proud of the image I posted. I think it has a good flow. The lighting was usually a mild flash; it was the only type I could control. The only flower with a single light source was the one with the brick wall in the background (#8), as it was near a window.

Jules, thanks for the gallery. (I'm learning how to take advantage of it, and should have my Los Angeles pics up soon.) I'm hardly in a position to give advice; all I did was use a tripod, get close (macro lens, typically at a 1:2 magnification), and keep an eye on the lighting. If I did it again, I'd buy an Expodisc and possibly a cable release; white balance and colour reproduction is sorely lacking. They may look pretty, but it's not accurate. I'd also spend a lot more time really looking at the flowers, and avoid the head-on composition. Orchids can look very O`Keeffeian, if you know what I mean.

I only did one geeky thing in this session. In photo #9, the three white flowers, the flash was casting shadows into the picture space. But, it wasn't a problem: I happen to be proficient at using the camera while it's upside-down. This casts the shadows up and out of the picture. It's a trick I learned while photographing a more typical subject for me, a burned out house.

that's not how you clean the sensor!

I'm still working on arranging the elements properly...

[wulinka]

Great series, matthew!
#5 and #7 are just two of my favorites, because of the nice background blurr.

I like the BW and think it works very well. I am a big fan of somewhat abstract pictures (and by the way, this is a low key). if anything, I might have tried a different crop, not an easy one here, but even as it is, I think it's nice.

nice job!

uli

[matthew]

I like the BW and think it works very well ... I might have tried a different crop, not an easy one here, but even as it is, I think it's nice.

Thanks for the comments. The B&W photo is a result of a typical mistake for me; I worked on it for colour and converted it at the last minute. The Orton effect that I liked the most for the flowers completely removed the background, but I had already cropped and resized it. (In colour, there's an OOF prize ribbon on the left side.) This is my entire set, and not meant to be a finished presentation, so I left it as is. I may experiment more with the idea of abstract B&W versions for another series.