Bearded Iris

What technical feedback would you like if any? Any

What artistic feedback would you like if any? Interested in your thoughts on the lighting based on the details provided below.

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

(If the background has been replaced, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)

This iris bloomed in our backyard today. I set up 2 off camera flashes, both in TTL mode, in separate groups. Flash on the left was at -1, flash on the right was a bit behind the flower and was at -2. Ambient exposure compensation was set at -2 as I wanted to mute the background to nearly black, but not quite. Minimal post processing, full frame.

Olympus EM1-X, 40-150 f/2.8 @ 90mm
ISO 64, 1/640 @ f/4.5, high speed sync flash

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1 Like

This is beautiful, Keith. It looks like to me that you accomplished what you had in mind. The color and details are really great.

I love the lighting you achieved, Keith. The depth of field seems adequate, though I’m surprised you didn’t stop down a touch more since you were going for a nearly black background.

Hi Dennis: Thanks for your comment. Stopping down the aperture would not affect the brightness of the background. I was in aperture priority mode, so all that would have done is cause the shutter speed to decrease to keep the ambient exposure the same and generated more DOF which I didn’t need or want. The exposure compensation was the control that determined how bright or dark the background was while the flash settings were responsible for controlling the exposure on the flower.

Keith: Superbly crafted portrait of a beautiful flower. My only suggestion has to do with the presentation. In the larger versions the default site BG is really dark so your image blends in such that the edges of the frame are not readily apparent. When I have a dark BG I put a one or two pixel white stroke around the border. >=))>

Keith,
We discussed this image and your technique in a recent tutoring session. You have made me anxious to use the fill flash for some of my floral images. This is simply stunning.

Well seen and made. The light and color are just right. What I like the most, however is how you planned and executed this to perfection.