Sweet caramel centers

Gallery: FloraPosted August 3, 201046 views10 comments

Haven't had much time to get out lately let alone post any images, but I had a few minutes this morning to take this shot while out watering the tomatoes and strawberries. I don't know what this is actually. The blossoms grow in large clusters very similar to a Lilac. In fact the entire plant loooks like a White Lilac. This small cluster hasn't yet developed into the large cone shapes that adorn many other branches. Silly title but it does remind me of caramel.
Slight crop for a less centered composition. No color adjustments. WB and contrast tweaked in ACR with additional sharpening done in PSE7 after file size reduction for posting. Comments welcome, thanks for looking.

D5000
Sigma 150 Macro
f/22 @ 1/10 sec
ISO 800

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Pat Sampson on August 3, 2010 at 11:03 PM

Nice composition for my tastes Bruce and the whites look great. On my monitor the flowers look like they could stand a little sharpening but it may just be the fact that the white and droplets hide some detail. Very nice work.

Pat

Registered on May 19, 2007, 953 Posts, 15989 Comments

Comment posted by Bruce King on August 3, 2010 at 11:16 PM

Thanks Pat. Actually there aren't any droplets, the petals just have a "spongey" texture. I knew when I processed this that sharpening would be dicey and I thought they might appear oversharpened if I wasn't careful. I used a higher setting for both radius and threshold than I normally do, hoping to smooth out a little of the texture while still maintaining detail. I don't know if it worked or not.

Registered on January 14, 2010, 276 Posts, 2212 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Hyman on August 4, 2010 at 12:13 AM

Neat title, Bruce. I can't ID the flower but what drew my attention to the image was the texture on the petals; then I realized it must be droplets of dew. So sorry you didn't include a larger photo. I think that might have been aces.

Ciao ;^)

Carol

Registered on January 18, 2007, 597 Posts, 8062 Comments

Comment posted by Albert Darmo on August 4, 2010 at 5:22 PM

Hi Bruce

At F/22. the flowers should look sharper

If there was a slight breeze shooting at @ 1/10sec. That could be a factor. Love the whites and the composition

Albert Darmo. Canada

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

Comment posted by Bruce King on August 4, 2010 at 7:26 PM

Thanks for the input Albert. As I said in an earlier comment he lack of sharpness is due to processing in editor. the image was sharp right out of ACR.

Registered on January 14, 2010, 276 Posts, 2212 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on August 4, 2010 at 8:27 PM

Bruce:
Good exposure for the white. The slight softness of the flower is not an issue for me, actually quite nice as it is. BG is starting to get noisy.

Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Southard on August 4, 2010 at 10:28 PM

A neat looking flower Bruce. I like how you composed this, and nice job on the whites, maintaining the 'spongy' texture. Aptly named.

Registered on July 15, 2007, 258 Posts, 3892 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Gallo on August 5, 2010 at 9:41 AM

The flowers have a look of frost on them to my eye, quite beautiful and well composed

Registered on September 14, 2005, 182 Posts, 1471 Comments

Comment posted by Bob&Charly Nelson on August 5, 2010 at 10:33 AM

This flower almost looks like snowflakes Bruce. Good eye.

Bob

Registered on October 27, 2005, 289 Posts, 4202 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on August 6, 2010 at 9:28 PM

Bruce: This is Buddleja or more commonly known as butterfly bush. We have a number of varieties in our garden and they do indeed attract the butterflies. Nice work on the whites and the textures in the blossoms. >=))>

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