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A single bloom
Making the most of the glorious weather.
The sun was almost directly behind the camera ~ SW of the lens direction
The main plant (V2) I took without any compensation, but the bloom required quite a bit of neg comp (-3 if I remember correctly) because parts of the petal were getting blown out.
I used a bland (but I trust sympathetic) piece of mount-board as a BG.
Upon reflection I could have used a white reflector below the bottom right corner.
But it was very bright sunlight at the time. The idea didn't occur to me, then 
| Brand: | NIKON CORPORATION |
| Camera: | Nikon D300  Check out Nikon Nation! |
| Lens: | 18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 |
| Recording media: | RAW (digital) |
| Date Taken: | 26 May 2012 - 10:55 AM |
| Focal Length: | 65mm |
| Lens Max Aperture: | f/4.9 |
| Aperture: | f/6.3 |
| Shutter Speed: | 1/1250sec |
| Exposure Comp: | -8/3 |
| ISO: | 100 |
| Exposure Mode: | Aperture-priority AE |
| Metering Mode: | Multi-segment |
| Flash: | No Flash |
| Title: | Pen's Rhododendron |
| Username: | 
strokebloke |
| Uploaded: | 26 May 2012 - 8:30 PM |
| Tags: | Flowers & plants, Rhododendron, Wildlife / nature |
| VS Mode Rating |
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| Votes: | Voting Disabled |
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Comments
What a wonderful show in V2 and great detail in V1.
V2 for me Jack, although I'd crop just a bit from the bottom to remove the path that you didn't sweep first!
I like V1 as well but the background lets it down somewhat. The mountboard's done its job but there are several leaves and so on silhouetted against it.
Bren.
What have you been drinking Bren??
There is no path on V2
The mount board was used on V2, not V1. 
The path on V1 did actually get (PS) cleaned of a lot of petal debris.
(despite the sunshine, it is quite windy here)
Quote: but there are several leaves and so on silhouetted against it.
Quote: Upon reflection I could have used a white reflector below the bottom right corner.
But it was very bright sunlight at the time. The idea didn't occur to me, then
Are the silhouettes unacceptable, in your opinion?
To my mind, they are part of the shot, taken at the time, in the conditions present.
Quote:
Are the silhouettes unacceptable, in your opinion?
To my mind, they are part of the shot, taken at the time, in the conditions present.
No, not unacceptable. Just slightly distracting.
I recall a visit I had to the Botanic Gardens a couple of years ago Jack,and I saw what must have been an outing with some camera club.They had all sorts of little umbrella things and a selection of different coloured cards.At the time I thought ''what the heck is all that about''. It is only now I realise what the ''work'' is involved to get a decent shot !!
Mick.
And you get decent shots, all the time, without any of the gear Mick.
This is a neighbour's rhododendron, in their back garden, & I must admit to feeling a bit of a pseudo Cornish carrying half a sheet of mount board across the road. My only redemption was that no-one but Pennny would know what I was going to do with it.
The last flower of Pen's I took was the single head a rose. And though I was pleased with it, several people on CG suggested that it could have been improved with the use of a uniform coloured BG.
The trouble with this one is that the weather is so bright at the moment, but it is quite breezy too, and in a couple of days time the heads will all have blown off. Otherwise I would have waited until the sunlight was less bright.
I may try going over again at about 8 pm this evening.
Quote: I may try going over again at about 8 pm this evening.
Could be a cunning plan.
I took Chloe (and her bike) with me yesterday evening when I took Sprocket for his walk. We ended up in 'Priory gardens' at about 7.30pm. and the light was excellent for taking photographs.
I got quite a few of her playing about, only family snapshots but good ones.
I hope that one day my little rhododendron bush will grow big like this. What a smasher! Tell Penny I love it.
I used to have all my plants in pots, now I have a garden to plant them in, so I often find myself saying, "It wants to be a TREE!"
Enough of the balmy stuff, Jack. You know the faults in V1 and you are wise to try later in the day. My camera is set and ready for when the sun goes down, as tempting as it may be to go out right now.
Although I take a stack of coloured card on outings, I also sometimes use a piece of material and a few clothes pegs. Less obtrusive when rolled up in the camera bag, but I still get sideways glances
. I find that black cotton or velvet is not only non-reflective, but doesn't show up the shadows.
Your card was a light colour and close to the flower and therefore shadows were cast upon it by the light. But I know how strong your perseverance is, Jack, and am convinced that you will get it right in the end.
Pamela.
WOW! I love the whole bush & the cluster in version 1 . Don't mind the shadows at all . Could have been a cream wall for all I knew till you mentioned the card backdrop . xxx I expect a polariser would have helped a lot ?
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