Happy Holidays

Gallery: FloraPosted December 12, 2015125 views4 comments

My wife's Christmas cacti are in bloom and well I needed something challenging to photograph. I used natural light and an artificial background for the composition. I shoot at f20 for these flower images--diffraction at this magnification is not evident and the Sigma 180mm macro performs very well at this aperture! Enjoy and Happy Holidays to all crying

. K5 IIs (Manual) 180mm f3.5 (ISO 200, f20, 2 sec exposure). Levels, 16 bit Luminosity masks for midtones, Light 1, Darks with curve adjustment, Brightness & Contrast, Topaz Detail, Rubber Stamp tool for dust bunnies.............Jim

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Cay-Uwe Kulzer on December 13, 2015 at 4:04 AM

Jim,

you managed the challenge very well, I like the smooth background letting the flower stand out nicely, but also the details on the flower as well the water drops. I also like that even when you applied a lot of post processing to the image that it looks natural.

Well done.

I also wish you and your family "Happy Holidays" devil

Registered on January 27, 2004, 494 Posts, 4021 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on December 13, 2015 at 9:07 PM

Thanks again for the processing detail. Our Christmas cactuses have not bloomed yet. A pretty bloom, with excellent detail and structure. The cactus isn't that flashy, but they seldom are. cool

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on December 13, 2015 at 10:07 PM

Gorgeous detail, Jim and a beautiful job on the processing tobring out all the subtle shadings. Well done.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Albert Darmo on December 14, 2015 at 10:09 PM

Hi Jim

The more i look at this cactus bloom, the more i like it !! excellent detail and color...

Albert Darmo
Canada

Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments