Winter Lupine

Gallery: FloraPosted December 23, 2015104 views5 comments

Our fall rains rejuvenated a lot of Lupines and when we had a cold snap in late November, it didn't seem to bother them much. I really liked the way the frost crystals rimmed the edges of the leaves on this one.

5D3, 180mm f3.5 Macro, tripod, f/32, 1/5 sec, iso 400, aperture priority, pattern metering, +1/3 EV. Processed in LR5 & CS6. I selected the main subject and differentially brightened it a bit as well as adding some blur to the bg. Small crop for composition with a final size of 16.5 Mpixels. Taken November 27, 2015 at 8:59 am.

Comments and criticisms are most welcome and sincerely appreciated.

Thanks,

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Cay-Uwe Kulzer on December 24, 2015 at 3:53 AM

Dennis,

a bit of chaos in the image, but the brighter frost on the one lupine and its precise focus let it stand out from the rest, being so a good anchor for the viewer.

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

Comment posted by scott lanz on December 24, 2015 at 8:32 AM

Very nice, Dennis. As noted by Cay-Uwe, the nice light on the main lupine really allows it stand out as the "star." The frost crystals created a beautiful accent.

Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on December 25, 2015 at 8:15 PM

A good processing! The subject is nicely lit and detailed. The idea of differential brightening is a good one, enabling the subject to stand out from the BG. Why the extremely small opening? Looks to me you could have accomplished the blurring in camera with a larger focal opening. cool

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on December 25, 2015 at 9:39 PM

Phil wrote: "Why the extremely small opening?"

This species of lupine has the leaves set at a significant angle relative to the stem so they form a fairly deep bowl. It's also fairly small so I was close to minimum focal distance. I might have gotten away with a lower aperture, but it would have been pushing it to keep the entire leaf in focus if I went down very much.

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

Comment posted by Bill Fach on December 26, 2015 at 4:01 PM

Dennis: Good job of making the most of the conditions. Well composed and captured.>=))>

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