Fairy Slipper

This is a 10 shot stack of a Fairy Slipper (Calypso bulbosa) growing in Yellowstone. 5D3, 180mm macro L, 1/100s, f/8, iso 800, tripod. Warmed slightly to compensate for being in the shade and deliberately placed off center due to the angled stem.

Plus the flipped version. Go large and arrow back and forth for a good time… where’s the tongue in cheek emojii…

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
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Mark, the large version is gorgeous. A wonderful subject presented perfectly with the overall image stacking. The short DOF or purposely blurred BG is excellent too…:+1:

Absolutely gorgeous, Mark. The color and detail in the flower is super. You must not have any breeze at all to get 10 shots to stack! Patience too! Great job!

Gorgeous indeed Mark! Wow, this is fabulous. The colors, DOF/selective focus (technically, superbly executed.) - everything beautiful.

Ok, here’s one from left field. We’ve had discussions in the past regarding the visual flow - reading left to right or right to left. My first thought was I was wishing there was more room on the left. (Understand you wanted to keep off center, I get it. check.) Then just now, I thought, what if this was flipped horizontally? I know we all have different opinions and outlooks on this phenomena, but for me, I have no issue with edge spacing when flipped horizontally… Of course there’s also that nagging feeling a photographer has that says - hey, if I flip it, it will be backwards and not reflecting reality… :wink: Just thinking out loud. This wonderful as presented.

Lon

@Lon_Overacker, Lon, clearly with a flower there’s basically zero chance of someone else seeing it and saying “hey the photog flipped their image for an improved presentation.” While I’m among those who say, “I want to show what was there, (not what I wish was there…)”, I think there’s a lot more flexibility when it comes to flowers and macro because we’re showing things that are often overlooked. So I went in a flipped this, as I switched views, I could sure see this flower strolling jauntily along a boardwalk, wearing a cool hat tilted at a saucy angle… I hadn’t noticed that before, so I’ve added the flipped version. That way other viewers can also flip back and forth using the arrows.

@Shirley_Freeman, Shirley, there were small movements. Stacking software can compensate for small movements. However, fixing such movement can take a lot of extra time to clean up in the processing stage. At high magnification, there can be movement of the camera if you don’t use a cable release and are a shutter “masher” like me…

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Sweet image either way and I had a ball flipping back and forth, Mark. For a stand alone image, I d think a tad more canvas on the closest side might be nice.

What a beautiful and unusual subject. Great job stacking and obtaining awesome detail. No nits here.

This is gorgeous Mark, the colors are just wonderful, the green, purple and yellow just work so well together. While very much a matter of personal taste, I prefer the second image where the stem of the flower leans from left to right, for me that’s the way I generally prefer to see things flow.

I think an interesting alternate treatment from a photo art perspective would be to combine these two images together to a get a mirror image type shot of two flowers side by side, one leaning left and the other leaning right.

gorgeous flower Mark and great colours!
Grt, Ingrid.

Mark: I wish I would have found one of these in Yellowstone! I’m OK with either orientation but on either one I wish the flower was shifted slightly to the other side of the frame. In each presentation the flower is leaning into the shorter side. I also would make that horizontal band go away; it grabbed my eye immediately. Love the center details and the color palette.>=))>