Cypripedium acuale ( light form )

I love them both. You present species that are not the usual flowers of orchides. The human form, especially the upper part that has the eyes, the " hat/ hands "with the colored " dress'...is fabulous, I like the " answer" in the BG, hint of the surrounding. and the shallow DOF. I wonder if a tiny more contrast will accentuate better the "face and dress" texture. what do you think? I like as well what looks hints of water drops. Can you give more details, is it from your own garden, or are they new species ?

I had done some work on the foreground flower to increase contrast and up the gamma a bit to make the pouch ( dress ) stand out a bit but I did not adjust the overall contrast. I will go back to the file and try your suggestion. Originally I had not liked the shot with increased contrast as I was trying to achieve a softness that would go along with the soft focus and narrow DoF. In this photo I was trying to see how far I could go with narrowing the DoF while still retaining the form of the foreground flower. I suspect I will end up leaving it like it is but I respect your opinion and will revisit the contrast to see.

 

These are wild orchids which grow in the hundreds scattered around my forest. These ones in particular grow in a sphagnum bog at the back of my land.

The BG is fine as is, increasing it will became oversaturated , I talked about the flower itself, and only a tiny bit, sorry for not being clear enough,...

 

Thaks for your answer and explanation, is there a big difference in the wild one vs. the " cultured" species. or all of them are being wild and are genetic manipulated.? you are a great source of information ,Gord.;-))

Even two such as us, who seem to understand each other well, are bound to need some clarification once in awhile :)

 

I will try your suggestion tonight and let you know. Thanks for that.

 

Most of the orchids you find in a florists are hybrids ( a crossing of two similar species ) because these hybrids are much easier to grow in a green house. Many orchids are very sensitive to their environment and make poor plants to grow commercially. This species of Cypripedium above will almost always die if if it is dug up and moved even if only a few meters. The plant gets its food from a micorrhizal relationship with various soil born fungi. If the plant is moved the fungi do not survive in the roots and the plant dies.

Thanks for the information about the fungi, very interesting. Now I know the differences of what I see, and even they are nice flowers at the florist, they are much more interesting in form and flowers in your file!

 

I really appreciate your explanations...;-))

The way these emerge from the ground, they look like a cross between ghosts, ballerinas, and scarecrows. To me, this calls up many thoughts of human-like spectral entities.

as I'm writing this "Clocks"by Coldplay is playing in my ears, how appropiate can it get I wonder ;-)

 

Pnina is right, this needs an increase in contrast. Concerning the form I think it's material for Rohrschach. You've displayed this beautifully.

Gran imagen macro de gran belleza , especial luz, color y un fondo perfecto. Saludos cordiales Gordon.

Somebody went "fishin"....LOL

IMHO this is just plain beautiful, and I respectfully disagree with Pnina and Ton about the contrast. I think I see what you were intending in regard to the soft feeling, and I fear increased contrast would make the orchid too distinct. It already looks 3D to me. I'm especially impressed with the huge difference between this one and your shot of the single bloom of this species in the much lower key. Such different ways to see the same flower.

 

Like Pnina, I learn so much from you. You sent me to the dictionary again with "mycorrhiza": The symbiotic association of the mycelium of a fungus with the roots of certain plants, such as conifers, beeches, or orchids. I love this place! Where else could I learn about photography and botany all at once?! :)

It's a lot more work coming to your pictures later, as opposed to when you first load them, because one has to do so much reading!

Emotionally, this works for me as a reflection would, even though I know it's not one. It is a reflective approach to this kind of photography and causes my mind to drift back and forth between clarity and dream. The color palette is unusual and engaging, the stronger background, the softer tones for the subject and its ghostlike secondary presence. You have achieved a sense of dimension and depth. It's very soothing to look at and has great atmosphere.

 

To me, there could be some technical consideration but it wouldn't be about contrast. I think with more contrast you might lose the sensitivity you've gotten. I keep focusing on the bottom and lower side curve of the main orchid. I'm not sure why that would be the sharpest area in a photo where it seems that what Pnina has creatively referred to as the face could be the more evocative focal point. If the sharp edges of the body were focused more akin to the edges of the outstretched arm in the foreground center of the photo, I think the orchid body would feel even more three dimensional and at home in its environment (the sharp edge there seems to provide what almost starts to feel like a cut-out look), softer and rounder. The face would draw my eye a bit more but certainly the flower, with its wonderful detail and texture, would still have its profound effect and prominent place.

 

My 4 cents.

Jeff;

 

Thanks to you, I can now see all three of trhose apparritions, scarecrows seems the most likely to my eye :-)

 

 

Ton;

 

I took both yours and Pnina's comments to heart and went back and reworked the photo. What I discovered was that I like it fine the way it is. Increasing the contrast makes the image more ordinary and takes away the soft dreamlike feel I was trying for. If anything I now think that if I were to print this I would reduce the contrast a bit and increase the brightness a tiny amount. I am willing to concede that in more skilled hands, a better PP treatment could be had, but for the moment this is the best I can come up with.

 

Julio;

 

Muchas gracias

 

 

Pnina;

 

More like sea kayaking or mowing many acres of lawn, but basically yes :-)

 

 

David;

 

Also having much respect for the opinions of Ton and Pnina I revisited my PP and found that what you suspect to be the case, is in fact true. Increasing the contrast works against my intentions and the overall feel of the photo. When I was uploading shots from this shoot I deliberately chose two that I felt represented different interpretations of the same flower. I may make a habit of this as it was kind of a fun and challenging appraoch.

 

I have picked up a few tidbits of knowledge myself at PN that were entirely unrelated to photography..... part of the fun.

 

Doug;

 

You know what they say about the early bird catching the worm :-)

 

Fred;

 

I trust that by now you know that your " 4 cents" hold considerable value to me.

 

My primary concern while working on this was trying to transmit the atmosphere of the environment in which these plants grow. Not the literal habitat in a botanical sense but how it makes me feel to be there amongst these orchids. I am pleased that this appears to have come across.

 

Regarding your comment on the rim of the pouch, I agree totally. I had noticed this sort of " cut out " effect after having done some work on the image and was concerned that it arose from my selecting the pouch and treating it separately from the remainder of the image. I went back to the original raw file and it looks the same in that regard. I think what you are seeing is partially a result of the rain than was falling, wetting the edge of the pouch and some of the light I was reflecting back up into the pouch catching that moisture, as well as the rime of the pouch all falling on the same plane. I will return to this one and find a way of subduing that effect. Thanks for taking the time to visit and share your thoughts. I am always grateful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the explanation. If you want to try something, you might blow up considerably and try a very tiny brush of your clone tool, simply cloning some orchid in right along that green rim. Then, for that same area, the lower and left side of the orchid, try a small brush of your blur tool at a very low setting (maybe 20 per cent, maybe less). I used to have this sort of thing happen a fair amount when I was using my point and shoot (of course, there's a different cause behind yours as you've explained) which was more of a digital outlining artifact especially when there were lights against darks or edges against stronger colors and had a fair amount of success disguising them with the above tools. Regardless, having come back to the image I want to say again what a great feast of color it is.

I respect your feeling about your liking it the way it is.There is some advice of others that I accept, there are some, that I have my strong feelings, that it has to stay the way I see it . I appreciate your explanation, and I still like it very much.

Fred;

 

Thanks for the tips. I had thought about the blur tool but the clone tools also sounds like a good idea to try.

 

Pnina:

 

I enjoy getting apposing opinions and suggestions because it makes me think deeper about the choices I have made. Like you say, sometimes that can change our minds and sometimes it helps to reinforce our original idea. Either way it gets us thinking.

 

 

I have swapped out my adjusted image for the original file and will attach the original here for reference. Despite refreshing the page the old file is still showing, although, oddly enough, the newly uploaded file is appearing above on the add a comment page I am typing on at the moment. Another weird wrinkle to PN I suppose.

 

At any rate I used a combination of blurring and cloning and I am happier with the look now. I also tried making a selection of the rim with the lasso toll then feathering and blurring. Sometimes that works for me but not this time.

 

Thanks for the feedback I am grateful.

 

PS: the old file is still showing, however if you leave a comment the new upload appears on that page.

Terrific! Great job and, to me (and, obviously, you) it has a much better feel. The softness of that edge makes such a difference. Nicely done.