Purple at Night

Gallery: FloraPosted September 9, 201276 views8 comments

Purple at Night, November 1st 2010

I decided to experiment with some night photography. I am sure my neighbors would have thought me insane, if they saw me crawling through their gardens, in the black of night.

My light source, was a small LED flashlight, held between my teeth, as I got on my stomach to get the shot. No flash used

My focal point, was the fully open bloom, at the top left.

Minor brightness/contrast adjustments in PS.

Panasonic DMC-TZ3
Focal Length 46mm
Shutter Speed 1/8 sec
Aperture f/4.9
ISO/Film 200

For more details, regarding my background and photos, please visit my profile page.

http://www.photoportfolios.net/portfolio/profile.cgi?&pi=TINYBYNATURE

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Philip Southard on September 10, 2012 at 10:41 AM

Trying to imagine you crawling through the garden with the flashlight in your mouth, lol,

. We nature photogs must be a crazy bunch,

. Anyway, really nice shot. Color, comp, lighting, DOF/POF, BG all look great.

Registered on July 15, 2007, 258 Posts, 3892 Comments

Comment posted by Ramamohan Pai on September 10, 2012 at 5:06 PM

Stephen - Had a nice chuckle thinking of you shooting with the flashlight in your mouth

.

Like the color, grouping and the details in the in-focus flower. Usually, pulling off a shot with an Out of Focus element in the front of the frame is difficult (and hence usually not advised), and it hurts the composition somewhat.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 550 Posts, 9037 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen Porter on September 10, 2012 at 7:09 PM

Hi Ram :)

Is this one of those "usual times", when it was not a good idea??

I have heard talk of something called, "frontal bokeh". How is this best used in an image?

Thanks for your input :)

Registered on August 27, 2012, 56 Posts, 69 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on September 10, 2012 at 8:04 PM

Stephen:
There are flashlights which you can wear on your head rather than in your mouth

I agree with Ram about OOF forward elements been difficult to pull off. The low light here brings out the color and blocks out distracting elements in the bg.

Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on September 10, 2012 at 9:32 PM

Stephen: Very creatively conceived and superbly executed. Very nicely done.>-))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments

Comment posted by Ramamohan Pai on September 10, 2012 at 9:32 PM

Stephen - Nathan Buck wrote a wonderful article sometime back on Cramming or foreground bokeh/blur. Take a look.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 550 Posts, 9037 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen Porter on September 10, 2012 at 10:16 PM

Thanks Ram... very interesting. I have never heard of "shooting through", but I will post a photo tonight, in the Macro section of an image where I may have used this method, without knowing what it was called :)

I would not say that the image above would qualify as "shooting through". I tried to separate the bloom, in focus, to top and away from the blurred blooms closer to and farther away from the lens.

I do not know anything about composition, I just go with what I feel, when I am presented with a subject that catches my eye. If I happen to shoot, according to some rule, it is a fluke :)

Registered on August 27, 2012, 56 Posts, 69 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on September 12, 2012 at 3:19 PM

Way to work it! Very nice indeed.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments