tillandsia tease...

[peeperita]

this is more commonly known as an airplant....i keep it outside in the shade all summer and bring it in to my kitchen for the rest of the year....i'm very proud of this one as it is around a foot in diameter...this plant is so deep and open in nature that i had a tough time with the depth of field during the whole session..this is the best image out of the batch......

what do you think?...

peeper

[weatherwise2]

I like the deep green color and the black background (say that 3 times fast). I'm not overly pleased with the angle. I do think in this type of plant having the full plant in focus is better. I might have brightend a little bit more. In general I do like the picture.

[alenz]

Very nice....the funny thing is the last little leaf or branch swooping upwards gives the impression that the entire plant is giving someone the finger gesture.
I guess beckoning as well.

I truely like this photograph...can you explain how you achieved the black
background?

[Robin Sarac]

This is a *great* picture peeper. What's the word that comes to mind? Deep. Deep black, deep green...makes the shot. Excellent, thanks for sharing.

[jiminyClickit]

peeperita,

Smaller blooms, yes, a black background does set them off well. This being a large complex plant, it might be all the more impressive with a deep gray background. I often place subjects in front of an asphalt surface (road, parking lot) and blur b/g to give dark objects a separation. If plant's too heavy to move, an old wool blanket would do. And backing up just enough to appreciate and include the sweep of the curved leaves would raise interest compositionally.

[peeperita]

thanks for your comments......

weather....you are right.....it would have been nice to see the whole plant....this is an old plant and as the leaves age they get longer and reflex back towards the bottom.....at this point the plant is more of a ball than anything and i had a hard time getting it to perch in a way that i could reveal all to the viewer.....the dark nature of the shot is my error.....i tried bringing it up both in the camera and in post but, as i did....it brought up the background to grey.....


thanks alenz....the black is a combination of the set up and post processing....i draped beneath and behind with every stitch of black clothing i could find......everything is "make do"....when i began editing, i realized that to bring up the shadows in the plant, i had to bring up the background as well....so, i took the "exposure" to where i wanted it and then made a selection of the background.....from there, on a separate layer, i painted in some black and blurred it to bring it back down......unfortunately, if you take the picture back into editing, you can see where it looks sloppy.....if i had it to do all over again, i would use a fill light to counteract the shadows in the plant.....

robin....thanks....post saved me on this one...calling attention more to a mood than a more technically pleasing image.....

again, my thanks, all...

peeper

[peeperita]

Originally Posted by jiminyClickit

peeperita,

Smaller blooms, yes, a black background does set them off well. This being a large complex plant, it might be all the more impressive with a deep gray background. I often place subjects in front of an asphalt surface (road, parking lot) and blur b/g to give dark objects a separation. If plant's too heavy to move, an old wool blanket would do. And backing up just enough to appreciate and include the sweep of the curved leaves would raise interest compositionally.

thank you for your suggestions, jiminy.....i especially like your ideas about the background....in fact, i'd like to try the grey of my concrete driveway at my next opportunity....like i did with the i see dead things shot........the plant is as light as a feather so positioning it won't be an issue....since this plant is so rounded with no clear bottom to use as a base, i am going to find a small, taller object to tuck in underneath it so that the leaves will be in focus and not the driveway....

when i do, i will bore you with a repost...

thanks again....

peeper

[praesentire]

I love the surreal feel to the whole shot! The background looks like you used a piece of velvet or something. I tagged it as a fav on Flickr

[peeperita]

thank you, praesentire... then background was every available piece of black clothing i own, stitched together with masking tape....

and thanks too.....i am flattered by your tag....

peeper