Lily of the Valley

Gallery: FloraPosted August 27, 2012113 views13 comments

Lily of the Valley, May 28th 2011

A capture of this tiny flower, from my back garden. My wife wanted a photo of her favourite bloom and this is what I came up with.

My focus was on the closest, small bell.

Minor brightness and contrast adjustments.

Panasonic DMC-TZ3
Focal Length 34.8mm
Shutter Speed 1/50 sec
Aperture f/4.8
ISO/Film 100

I was asked to post the camera settings, for my photos. I could not afford an expensive camera body and macro equipment, so I built an attachment for my camera, that included cardboard tubing and lots of duct tape. The above settings, may or may not make any sense since the attachment changes just about everything. :)

For more details, regarding my background and photos, please visit my profile page.

http://www.photoportfolios.net/portfolio/profile.cgi?&pi=TINYBYNATURE

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Patricia Brundage on August 27, 2012 at 10:53 PM

I'm enjoying this thoroughly! The lily of the valley is rarely seen here, probablly because of the size of the bloom. Your presentation magnifies its beauty by the repeating of the blooms and emphasizing the first and nearest. Beautiful!

Registered on March 23, 2006, 1111 Posts, 6531 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen Porter on August 27, 2012 at 11:03 PM

Thank you Patricia. I greatly appreciate your kind comments and feedback! I am glad you enjoyed this. :)

Registered on August 27, 2012, 56 Posts, 69 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on August 27, 2012 at 11:33 PM

Stephen, Welcome to NPN! Your story is a very compelling one. I suspect many of have found our photography has saved our souls - but not to the literal extent yours has.
You're right, the tiny details of nature can be the most spectacular, if we take the time to see them.

This is a lovely image of one of my favorute flowers that I miss from Midwest childhood.
- nice focus and DOF. I'd like just a bit more room all around, and touching up the dark areas and spots on the bloom would be a good idea. For flora - and especially macro floro - the bloom needs to be near-perfect, as every detail is seen.
Looking forward to more from you!

Sandy . ,

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Eirini Pajak on August 28, 2012 at 7:02 AM

Lovely! No complaints here! Very sweetly portrayed! I like the shallow DOF & dark background & your point of view is perfectly composed!

Registered on December 13, 2011, 216 Posts, 1671 Comments

Comment posted by Nathan Buck on August 28, 2012 at 5:09 PM

Welcome to NPN and flora Stephen! This is a very pretty grouping of blooms. This is a somewhat unconventional comp, and I like it a lot. Seems to be 'right there in your face'. Very, very nice!

Nathan

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1101 Posts, 13589 Comments

Comment posted by Ramamohan Pai on August 28, 2012 at 8:44 PM

Stephen - Welcome to NPN and the Flora Gallery.

What a fine shot of this tiny but fragrant flower

--> this is a composition that I have not seen before. Most I saw were shot from the side with the leaf as the background. Really like your take on this one.

Pls share more of your work

Registered on November 1, 2003, 550 Posts, 9037 Comments

Comment posted by Jaymes Dempsey on August 29, 2012 at 11:05 AM

A beautiful image, Stephen! As the others have mentioned the comp is creative and it works really well. I like how the flowers can be seen out of focus behind the original. Definitely hope to see more of your work!

Registered on June 28, 2010, 47 Posts, 590 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on August 29, 2012 at 9:02 PM

Stephen:
Welcome to NPN and to Flora!

Very strong first flora image. Love the DOF you have chosen and the focus on the foremost bloom. If you are not against some post processing, touching up some minor blemish on the bloom will make them look better ( a bit like touching up skin blemishes on portrait shots).

Look forward to seeing more posts from you.

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

Comment posted by Morris McClung on August 30, 2012 at 1:05 PM

Nice.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by Lorna Taylor on August 31, 2012 at 9:54 AM

Lovely delicate sweetness in this shot Stephen. Welcome to the Flora gallery . I look forward to seeing more of your work.

Registered on November 12, 2010, 254 Posts, 3083 Comments

Comment posted by Stephen Porter on August 31, 2012 at 10:21 PM

thank you, all, so much for the kind comments and encouragement! :) much appreciated!

Registered on August 27, 2012, 56 Posts, 69 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Dayton on September 1, 2012 at 5:55 PM

Nice, Stephen. The BG works well here. I also like your DOF choice.

Registered on November 11, 2008, 281 Posts, 3958 Comments

Comment posted by Bob&Charly Nelson on September 3, 2012 at 8:54 AM

Wonderful first post Stephen. I find these blooms very hard to compose, and you have done a superb job. Great choices used to compliment this portrait. Welcome to the floral gallery, and we look forward to many more wonderful images.
Bob

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