Lynne Hollingsworth  


Macro Violet  by Lynne Hollingsworth

April 2021 - Macro Violet

About the Image(s)

I brought home a new African Violet the other day from a local nursery, and was immediately drawn to the pistils and stamens in the center of the flowers. And since it was my birthday on the 31st, I had a brand new camera body to play with - from the D7000 to the D850. A "from me to me" gift...

For the image I used my 105mm macro lens on a tripod and after 8 shots, used photoshop to focus stack. I know this camera can focus stack in camera, but I haven't gotten there yet. Settings were 1/5 sec, f/8, 100 ISO. I wanted to maintain depth of field, but I was taking the image on the kitchen table and wanted to use natural light. A reflector was used.

Post processing (after stacking) included cropping, removing some black dirt specks and flipping the image horizontally. Let me know what you think.


This round’s discussion is now closed!
5 comments posted




Lynn,
I like this a lot, though I would not have recognized this as an African violet (which for me is one of the joys of this type of macro photography). The results of the stacking around the pistils and stamen, right down to the pollen grains along with the hairs on some of the petals is excellent.
The petal beneath the center of the flower comes out anteriorly and is out of focus, which is slightly distracting: the only way to avoid that would be to stack a much larger number of images (I have done that for some other flowers: I have gone as high as 30+ images.) I am currently using Canon that does not have in camera stacking ability so am using Photoshop, which can handle that number readily, even if it takes a fair amount of processing time. Michael   Posted: 04/07/2021 12:31:40



Charles Ginsburgh   Charles Ginsburgh
(Group 63)
What a fun image. The blooms have such interesting centers, and here you have provided us with a wonderful view into it's detail. The differential focus between the center structure and the surrounding areas is effective, and really highlights the center. That being said I would go a bit further. To my eye the entire image is a bit washed out, and I would enhance the shadows some and to add a bit of micro-contrast to make the central structure stand out a bit more. Your composition does this to some extent, but why not push it a bit more. I have presented a version below to demonstrate my thoughts more. See what you think ...   Posted: 04/25/2021 12:58:18
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I like it. Going back and looking at the "before", the changes really help the image pop.   Posted: 04/25/2021 14:22:50



Peter Newman   Peter Newman
(Groups 20 & 79)
Lynne, I love the angle at which you have placed the orchid. The curves and the straight lines complement each other and help to enjoy the beauty of the colors. I do agree with Charles that just a tad of contrast and color enhancement improve the image.   Posted: 04/25/2021 16:23:51



 
I really like the softness of the flower and the subtle colors. I do like Charles's enhancements but to my eye I would also remove the dark 'dead' areas in the upper left and lower right and put the pistils and stamen on the 1/3 point. You know it is a flower and this focuses your attention on the most important part of the flower. I gave it a quick edit to see if you would like it.   Posted: 04/27/2021 21:09:56
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