Bloomquist Blush Decorative Dahlia

Image Critiques Flora Critiques
1

BloomquistBlush.jpg
BloomquistBlush.jpg1334×2000 405 KB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

The dahlia portion of the vegetable garden is approaching full bloom. Bloomquist Blush is a rarely grown variety in the Midwest and I was able to find a tuber from a Washington state dahlia grower. I used a single, diffused flash to provide softer shadows and brightness to the subject. The flower is housed in a cloth light box that provides diffuse, bright light coupled with a black velvet BG. The flower is nearly perfect, but early season flowers often have a few petals missing like this one shows. I left the imperfection as it provides uniqueness associated with this flower.

Specific Feedback

How do you like the lighting on this flower?

Technical Details

Z9 (105mm f2.8 Micro (1/80 sec at f3,5, ISO 64) 81 image stack (PMax), Levels with black point adjustment, Increase in Yellow saturation, bandage tool to remove minor imperfections on several petals. I also burned in the lighter areas of the basal leaves and stem and adjusted the layer transparency to get the desired effect,

Critique Template

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  • Vision and Purpose:
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2

Jim, you certainly are the flower photographer master. Wow. This is stunning. I like lighting a lot. Very professional portrait feel to it. Well done. That’s a ton of focus stacking too. I like the background and I think the tips of the leaves at the bottom adds a nice touch to the whole image. 5-stars in my opinion.

I was just out at our local Dahlia growers yesterday. They have a free festival all August and September. The light was overcast, although warm and quite humid. I hope I got some good shots. Nothing like this one though.

Cheers,
David

3

Jim: A subject well worth the effort and a fantastic result. The lighting is masterfully done. Superbly crafted image.>=))>

5

A beautiful portrait of this dahlia, Jim. The lighting is superb.