These small (approx. 1/2" buds) red columbines just began budding last week. A truly pleasant surprise.
Winds were at 10mph and it was a bit overcast. Chose to use my 28-300mm for this shot as my macro and I are not speaking to each other these days. Hence the 210mm close up shot.
What I like about it is the purple tinge color to the new leaves and also the shape of the little bud.
What doesn’t work so well for me is the sharpness of the bud. Because it was overcast I increased the ISO to 400 and wanted to keep my shutter speed fast as I could get it (1/125sec) because of the wind, I ended up having to use f/6.3 in order to get the exposure I wanted.
Cropped; 3:2, used luminosity mask to burn highlights on leaves, added levels and curve adjustments
Nikon D7200, f/6.3, 1/125sec., ISO 400 @210 mm. Tripod & remote
Any thoughts, comments and/or suggestions are welcome. Thanks.
Hi Linda - columbine is such an intriguing flower and I’ve photographed them before they’re fully bloomed, too. The purple leaves are terrific. So I had a go at your shot. All in Ps -
Camera raw for exposure adjustment & some clarity. Played with the red curves and dialed up your purple a little bit and also dialed down the green since it was too strong at full exposure. Then I added some canvas at the top since it seemed to need some breathing room and cropped the bright leaf out. Did a little NR. Then I added a warm filter. I hope you don’t mind.
I love your DOF! The flower is so interesting – I have no objections to its sharpness – I assume you wanted a little more DOF on it? Kudos for getting a beautiful image in difficult conditions!
I was wondering about a little more exposure and a bit more on top, and Kristen dealt with both. I might go halfway in between on the exposure as I like the dusky look of the original. I think her adjustments would also work with your original composition. I like the three elements of the two droopy leaves on either side of the bud.
Linda, Red Columbine is a terrific native wildflower for shady areas. I like the soft, quietness of the original along with how you got the leaves in the frame and the overall greenness. The small view looks a bit underexposed (but that does work at creating a quiet, contemplative mood). The large view opens up nicely. I do think that dodging the flower subtly might be good. Kris’s treatment creates a dramatically different image.
Thanks @Kris_Smith , @Diane_Miller and @Mark_Seaver for your kind thoughts and comments. @Kris_Smith appreciate you taking the time to not only comment, but work with the image. And as @Mark_Seaver mentioned, your version is a wonderfully different interpretation. @Diane_Miller, I agree with you about adding a bit to the top and I also like the soft dropping leaves. And @Mark_Seaver, going to give the flower another go at dodging just a bit. I’ve just downloaded Tony Kuyper’s TK7 program and also Sean Bagshaw’s Smart Objects video, so this will be a good image with which to experiment. Thanks again.
