Iris Symmetry

[Teewinot]

New iris + good light = fun!

I got under the flower for some experimental macros and liked how this one turned out.



EXIF info:
-Camera: Olympus C8080 (not an SLR)
-Aperture: f/3.2
-Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec.
-ISO: 50
-Focal length: 23.4 mm
-Handheld (no tripod)

Post processing (in Paint Shop Pro 8):
-Crop
-Brightness/Contrast curves adjustment
-Unsharp mask (radius 40, strength 15, clipping 5)
-Increase saturation (5)

Comments/suggestions welcome!

[clockdoc]

Very pretty abstract of the iris and well named! 8-) Excellent sharpness. As much as I like the photo, I really do appreciate all the technical data you also presented. That helps so much when viewing a photo and trying to make some helpful comments. Super steady hands here too. Perhaps some of the Photoshop experts can help me understand when does one use "Level" in lieu of or in addition to "Curves?" I can see this as a LARGE poster image on the wall of a professional office like that of a doctor or lawyer. Well done!

[xxpinballxx]

Tee you are fast becoming my favorite on here.....Great shot! I have never once looked a flower and thought of how it would look from the underside.
Love the way the sun penetrates the top petal.

[Teewinot]

clockdoc, I was quite pleased to get good sharpness on this image as my hand-held macros of late have left me rather unsatisfied (simple solution would be to use a tripod...trying to discipline myself more in this area...). I shoot flowers more than any other subject, so I guess I have had the practice in hand-holding. To boost, today's light was perfect for shooting flowers: overcast, with muted sun coming in and out between the clouds....not too much light (which causes loss of definition and blown highlights) and not too little light (which creates a situation where a slow shutter speed is needed, and hand-holding is impossible). At 1/200 seconds it was more than doable to hand-hold.

For "curves" vs. "levels", (and remember I use Paint Shop Pro, not Photoshop), I find the curves tool to be just what it sounds like: a way to adjust brightness and contrast simultaneously using points on a curve. The levels tool seems to be more linear adjustments...I don't use this tool as much. That said, I really don't understand tools very well...I've just played around enough to sort of know how to get the results I want...sort of...

Finally, thanks so much for your very kind words! Thanks for taking the time to comment!

xxpinballxx, I've been shooting flowers all spring and summer and have found myself getting bored with the typical 'top-view' flower shot. So I sat myself down on the ground, pulled out my LCD screen, and shot up instead. The light was a bonus...timing was everything. Thanks for your nice comments!

[Todd]

I have nothing technical to add seeing as how I am a newbie but I will add is that, that is awesome looking. I learn more and get more ideas from you people than I will ever have time to try.

[wyndhydra]

Teewinot,
I absolutely love the shot. What a great use of color. Reminds me a bit of some Georgia O'Keefe works. Great job! I love it and would totally love to see it super huge like clockdoc said.

Clockdoc,

Originally Posted by clockdoc

Perhaps some of the Photoshop experts can help me understand when does one use "Level" in lieu of or in addition to "Curves?" Well done!

From what I've read they are pretty similar in nature. The main difference is that in levels you can only truly adjust the three sliders for highlights, midtones, and shadows. Curves gives you the ability to be all powerful tweaking until your work is perfection. That said, I love to use levels for those simple fixes where you don't need to apply up to 16 adjustments to your tones.

[xxpinballxx]

Why I am in love with my new CS3, when adjusting curvesyou can now adjust each of the Red Green and Blue channels and then see them in relation to the overall RGB when you go back to the normal curves pallette and then set that as a custom Curve. Not sure if that was possible in CS.

[Teewinot]

Todd, thanks for the compliment!

wyndhydra, thank you also...you are right, it does sort of look like a Georgia O'Keefe...

wyndhydra and xxpinballxx, thanks to you both for better 'levels vs. curves' explanations. As I said, I know more about how to get the results I want (sort of..) than how the tool actually works!

[rlarsen]

Exceptional shot, I love it.

[Teewinot]

Originally Posted by rlarsen

Exceptional shot, I love it.

Thank you very much!