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Purple Wildflower
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Purple Wildflower

by Barbara Graham

Gallery: FloraPosted May 24, 2011260 views18 comments
Some type of aster, maybe?

Canon EOS REBEL T2i
EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
5/24/2011 – 6:28:19 PM
1/320 sec
Manual
f/9
ISO 400
Focal length 250 mm
Woods near my house in Northeast Florida
Raw file processed in PSE9

There was distinct shadow and light, which I did like, and in processing I made decisions about how to process that. Are deep shadows not a good thing for flora? Feedback on that as well as anything else would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Comments

18 comments
Comment posted by Joyce Harman on May 24, 2011 at 10:24 PM
Barbara
it is a passion flower, native wildflower at least here in the mid-atlantic, but a bit invasive if you have it in your garden. Difficult flower to shoot, you did a good job here, though maybe a bit more even lighting would show it off better. Nice soft background, great color contrast with the purple flower.
Joyce
Registered on April 3, 2004, 18 Posts, 88 Comments
Comment posted by Patricia Brundage on May 24, 2011 at 10:28 PM
You did a beautiful job of isolating a this, especially since it was wild. It is, for me, one of the more difficult flowers to get the dof correct because of its complex make up and many layers. Great job!
Registered on March 23, 2006, 1111 Posts, 6531 Comments
Comment posted by Ken Smith on May 24, 2011 at 11:02 PM
Wow! Cool shot...I like how you captured the light and shadow..then kept the b/g sweet and simple. Sharp where needed. This looks alive and moving. So, is this what happens when you give your plants LSD? And if you kiss this, will it turn magically into an orchid?
Registered on September 5, 2008, 449 Posts, 2444 Comments
Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on May 24, 2011 at 11:23 PM
Very nice! I have found these almost impossible to get a good angle on - so complex and so many planes to try to focus.
You did a great job here!
Nice colours and BG too.
Sandy
Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments
Comment posted by Steve Kennedy on May 25, 2011 at 12:04 AM
Nice shot Barbara! Great detail. I like your POV and DOF choices. Background is works well too.
Registered on March 9, 2009, 79 Posts, 676 Comments
Comment posted by Pat Sampson on May 25, 2011 at 8:09 AM
Interesting subject, excellent capture and a fine presentation for my tastes. No suggestions. Very fine image.

pat
Registered on May 19, 2007, 953 Posts, 15989 Comments
Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on May 25, 2011 at 10:51 AM
Barbara:
A very fine image. Well done.
Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments
Comment posted by Ramamohan Pai on May 25, 2011 at 11:04 AM
Awesome take on the Passionflower :toast:
Registered on November 1, 2003, 550 Posts, 9037 Comments
Comment posted by Derek Yow on May 25, 2011 at 1:22 PM
Wonderful shot Barbara! Great decision on your POF and DOF. I dont think deep shadows are a problem in flora, in fact if used well i think they can be beneficial. You've shown that here with the light hitting that interesting structure of the center of this blossom.
Registered on May 18, 2010, 26 Posts, 655 Comments
Comment posted by Todd Bielby on May 25, 2011 at 1:30 PM
This has got to be the craziest flower I have ever seen but I like it. Thanks for sharing.
Registered on March 10, 2011, 169 Posts, 392 Comments
Comment posted by Bill Fach on May 25, 2011 at 4:42 PM
Barbara: One of my favorite subjects. We have this same variety in our garden. It is also a host plant for gulf fritillary butterflies so if you look close you might find some creepy crawly black and orange caterpillars lurking about as well. Like the others have noted it can be tough to shoot but you got a good clean BG. I kind of like the light. 2 thumbs up! >=))>
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments
Comment posted by Ron Pullen on May 25, 2011 at 6:57 PM
Barbara, Joyce is correct in her identification and this is a beautiful image of the specimen. I really like the background you have with it, good job. Ron :toast: :toast:
Registered on December 18, 2005, 74 Posts, 1413 Comments
Comment posted by Anne K. Rusk on May 25, 2011 at 10:53 PM
I totally thought this was an alien from the thumb! A very interesting flower indeed! Shadows are not deal breakers for me, but many flowers lose some detail when they are cut by shadows, so it's an artistic decision in my mind. Great focus overall here. This looks tough!
I could be really tired, but I see a dark halo at the top of the center and a light halo under the left petals. Just a minor nit!
Registered on October 10, 2010, 65 Posts, 904 Comments
Comment posted by Mike Moats on May 26, 2011 at 9:02 PM
Great subject Barb, nice details.
Registered on October 20, 2004, 892 Posts, 6324 Comments
Comment posted by Wayne Jones on May 26, 2011 at 9:49 PM
Barbara, great angle and focus on this difficult subject. I like the lighting, but I get the impression that the details in the shadows may have been "pushed" just a bit too much in post processing. I just get the feeling that the shadows should be deeper when I see bright light like this. (Just a personal thing, and I may be way off interpreting the light here, so ignore that comment if you didn't start with deep shadows.) You produced a striking image by keeping the background simple.
Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments
Comment posted by Angela Classen on May 26, 2011 at 10:44 PM
Cool passion flower! I've only seen these at a botanical garden. My nickname for them is "UFO flower." I like the lighting and the BG. This flower has so much goin' on, it's hard to decide where to focus, but I think you did a nice job with it. The center is where my eyes are drawn due to the awesome little structure there, and your focus is tack sharp there as it should be. If these grow wild near your home, I'd go back and keep trying different comps and DOF and see what you get. Great work!
Registered on June 13, 2007, 434 Posts, 2742 Comments
Comment posted by Barbara Graham on May 27, 2011 at 3:12 AM
Thank you all for the feedback. Wayne, I did lighten the shadows even though I kind of liked them better deeper, because I wasn't sure what was normally okay with shadows.
Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments
Comment posted by Albert Darmo on May 28, 2011 at 9:57 PM
Hi Barbara :wavey: You captured the intricate form and color of this wildflower beautifully, very well done. :cool: :smile:
Albert Darmo
Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments