Is this a composite? (focus stacks or exposure blends are not considered composites)
No
Photographed in situ. Light box with internal flash background with frontal flash on either side of the subject. Processed in Lightroom. This insect is real and photo bombed while I was setting up.
The white of the petals is difficult to separate from the intense white background. Photographing white flowers in the spring makes it easier. The light on the petals is from the open sky and the slight blue cast helps.
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I really like this image, Paul. I think white on white looks great and the green leaves and stem stand out so beautifully! In my opinion the bug is the icing on the cake or flower in this instance!
I missed this one, Paul! Love it although it is odd for me to see such a familiar favorite divorced from the forest floor. These are usually pretty messy flowers - they come up so early and that usually means a lot of leaf litter, sticks and other crud. Plus their petals seem to be held on with spider silk and hope. I think there is decent separation of the whites, but the white balance itself seems off. The color of the leaves (strange to see two leaves and only one flower stem) and the stamens (?) are not what I expect. The green is too warm and the yellow too cool although it is slight. The insect is fabulous though.
Bloodroot is a tough wildflower to photograph. They are early and blustery vernal days that play havoc with the petals. It’s the same for twinleaf ( Jeffersonia diphylla), a relative of bloodroot and just as fragile. I haven’t been able to get a decent image of twinleaf in 5 years, although I have a colony nearby and religiously visit each spring.
I’ll check on the white balance. I use a color card in the frame, but sometimes during the edit, it shifts, and I’m as dumb as a stone when it comes to color. However, my standard response is, “that’s the color of my world.”
The insect is purely a felix culpa.
Thanks especially for the
That’s exactly the intent of this body of work, to isolate the subject from the narrative of its natural surroundings.
I don’t think I saw this before and I’m glad I did, as it’s gorgeous! The white against white is a challenge but you pulled it off! The areas where the petals merge with the BG are behind the stamens and it’s maybe even best that there is no separation detail there.
