Did some scouting this afternoon to see the status of the Showy Lady Slipper bloom. I found about 50% of the plants in bloom at Eshqua Bog. The light (and wind) wasn't ideal, but a diffuser, and some occassional clouds helped me get a few shots. The ferns and other vegetation have really taken over with all this rain. It's hard to isolate the Lady Slippers.
I was just thinking about posting a question about Eshqua Bog and if anyone had been recently. This is nice, I like the composition and the background. I would suggest perhaps using the shadow highlight tool to tone down the upper white petal and perhaps lighten the background.
I use John Shaw's method of dodging and burning. I create a fill layer in either "softlight" or "overlay" blend mode with a 50% gray fill. Then I use a soft brush at about 20% opacity to dodge or burn. A black brush burns, and the white brush dodges. I stay away from the shadow/highlight tool as much as possible. I actually did darken the top petal a tad, and I also darkened the background, which I felt brought out the highlights in the green leaves, as well as making the flower pop a bit! I also posted this in the flora forum, but with a tad cropped off from the top.
For a long time I also stayed away from the SH tool. However, I have recently been using it successfully. I make a copy of my background layer (named s/h), then make my SH adjustment on the copied layer (don't use the default settings they are horrible, I reset the amounts to zero and saved as new defaults). Then, if needed you can mask the layer and paint it any areas you want or simply play around with the opacity of the layer. This way it is a nondestructive adjustment and can be discarded later.
I agree that the flower pops with a dark background. I think a lighter background would soften the entire scene and compliment this delicate flower more. Of course these are minor things, the image is very strong.
Posted by Richard Ennis on June 17, 2006 at 10:47 AM
Kurt,
If I feel the need for the highlight/shadow tool, I usually do it during RAW conversion. Nikon's RAW Converter has the same feature and it seems to work better than photoshop. If I do use it in Photoshop, I will generally convert the image to LAB mode and run it on the Lightness Channel. It works real well, as the Lightness Channel in LAB does not effect color in any way, only the lightness.
Rich
Posted by Kurt Budliger on June 17, 2006 at 11:12 AM
That's what keeps amazing me about Photoshop. There are so many different ways to handle different situations. The more I learn, the more I realize I don't yet know.
Did the plants seem beat up from all this crazy weather of late? I would like to make a trip down, as the only images I have from there are slides.
Posted by Richard Ennis on June 17, 2006 at 11:30 AM
Kurt,
The plants all looked great. There are many that have yet to bloom. The biggest problem was the other vegetation (mostly ferns)!
I am planning on meeting Jim Deasy there Tues afternoon, or Wednesday, depending on his schedule.
Very nice, Richard! I've tried and tried to locate a batch of ladyslippers nearby for the last two years but have had no luck! Glad you were able to capture this beauty!
(Not sure if you remember me - "Jennifer G" on WA)
Discussion
7 repliesD2X, 300mm f4 AFS, 1/40s @ f7.1, Tripod
I was just thinking about posting a question about Eshqua Bog and if anyone had been recently. This is nice, I like the composition and the background. I would suggest perhaps using the shadow highlight tool to tone down the upper white petal and perhaps lighten the background.
I use John Shaw's method of dodging and burning. I create a fill layer in either "softlight" or "overlay" blend mode with a 50% gray fill. Then I use a soft brush at about 20% opacity to dodge or burn. A black brush burns, and the white brush dodges. I stay away from the shadow/highlight tool as much as possible. I actually did darken the top petal a tad, and I also darkened the background, which I felt brought out the highlights in the green leaves, as well as making the flower pop a bit! I also posted this in the flora forum, but with a tad cropped off from the top.
For a long time I also stayed away from the SH tool. However, I have recently been using it successfully. I make a copy of my background layer (named s/h), then make my SH adjustment on the copied layer (don't use the default settings they are horrible, I reset the amounts to zero and saved as new defaults). Then, if needed you can mask the layer and paint it any areas you want or simply play around with the opacity of the layer. This way it is a nondestructive adjustment and can be discarded later.
I agree that the flower pops with a dark background. I think a lighter background would soften the entire scene and compliment this delicate flower more. Of course these are minor things, the image is very strong.
If I feel the need for the highlight/shadow tool, I usually do it during RAW conversion. Nikon's RAW Converter has the same feature and it seems to work better than photoshop. If I do use it in Photoshop, I will generally convert the image to LAB mode and run it on the Lightness Channel. It works real well, as the Lightness Channel in LAB does not effect color in any way, only the lightness.
Rich
Did the plants seem beat up from all this crazy weather of late? I would like to make a trip down, as the only images I have from there are slides.
The plants all looked great. There are many that have yet to bloom. The biggest problem was the other vegetation (mostly ferns)!
I am planning on meeting Jim Deasy there Tues afternoon, or Wednesday, depending on his schedule.
Rich
(Not sure if you remember me - "Jennifer G" on WA)