I've Got Your Back+B&W Post

Barbara: Aptly titled and a superb image. The lighting makes this shot and the arrangement is marvelous. Your scans are getting better and better. >=))>

Barbara, this is lovely . Wonderful lines and mood. Beautiful com. on this one. I look forward to more scans to come !

Simple and elegant Barbara. Love it!

Barbara,
I really like your comp...the diagonal line is really nice,
as is the clarity and I love the black BG to set off the flower.
Well seen, captured and processed.

Thanks to all for your comments. This processing from a scanner sure has been challenging. It takes me the longest to fine tune and remove all the little specks from the image, but at least I'm getting my monies worth out of the clone tool in PS5. My new scanner sits on the top of my desk, not in the cabinet like my other all-in-one printer/scanner, so I've learned to pull down my shads and turn my computer screen away from the scanner as it does its final scan. My other challenge is to find those objects with the right colors and details. These calla's are one of my favorites so far, just right up there with the dried leaves (which I found out are Ash). Your comments are keeping me on my toes. I may need to take a ride over to my favorite Arboretum to see what's on the ground that would make a good scan art. Oh, I printed this image on my note card stock and it looks FAB! Thanks again. I really appreciate your support.

Barbara, Looking stunning. I have no experience in scanning flowers so I cannot provide much guidance or critique, but I do like what I see. Pat and Gary have enough experience in this sphere of work.

Barbara I recently came across an articular on scanning and they were using a shallow box about the size of the scanner , painted black on the inside with a hole cut out of the side to play with adding different lighting but the box was to also keep the BG dark . Might be something you'd be interested in.

Lorna, thanks for the link. Her images are amazing and what interesting and fabulous compositions. I'm going to make a box and line it with black velvet to see if that will make a difference. I don't mind cloning out the specks, but it would be nice if there weren't a bizillion of them. Thanks again for the email and link. I'll keep trudging forward.

And thanks Ram, for your comments. I appreciate them all very much.

I like the composition and the overall look of this one a lot.

Love this, Barbara ! The contrasty lighting allows the flowers to hold full attention in the dark space - and I love the way you've related them to each other.

I really like this Barbara

Barbara:
You are doing great with the scanner. One of the constant issue using the scanner is the dust spot which just seem to appear in the most obtrusive part of the image Well just have to put the healing brush on CS5 into overdrive.

The image here looks fine and the lines and curves looks great. This is almost a monotone and I wonder how this would look in B&W. Keep up the experiment and looking forward to seeing more.

Thanks for all the comments and for your time. Gary, I know what you mean about the clone tool, but I think I found a pretty good solution. My sister made a box (no lid) out of foam core board and covered the insides and bottom with black velvet material. This box sits on top of the open scanner but does not sit on the actual glass. The box is 4 inches high which allows for plenty of room for the objects on the glass. She taped all around the outside edges so there are no open areas at all for light to come through. I used these same lilies, placed them on the glass in a different composition, placed the box on top and hit the scan button. It worked perfectly. I only spent a few minutes cloning out about a dozen specks plus I didn't have to do as much other processing as the background was a really nice black.

I did take this image I posted here and used Silver Efex Pro 2 to turn it into black and white as you mentioned. I think it's just as dramatic ... what do you think? And now I have been asked by the editor of the CNPA (Carolina's Nature Photographers Association) quarterly magazine to write an article on the process of scanner art! I better get busy. Let me know your thoughts on this black and white. Thanks again for your support of my work.

Barbara: I'm an unrepentant color junkie so I do prefer the original but this is a marvelous conversion and a very fine comp that works well in either mode. Top notch shot! >=))>

Barbara
I do like the conversion and I think it is as strong if not stronger than the original!