I was going to just post this first image, but after seeing Bill’s post showing the use of a polarizer and flash, I thought I’d add $.02 of polarizer use. The first post is using the polarizer to look at this water lily and the surrounding leaves on an overcast day. With the polarizer, the luminosity covers the full histogram. The second post is a zoomed in look at the same lily without the polarizer. For this image, the luminosity was very limited, covering only about the middle 1/3 of the histogram. As I expanded the histogram in RAW processing, the subtle colors in the pads began to show although there’s an overall blueness (sky reflection) in the lily pads. Note how the sky reflections are bluish with the polarizer and white without the polarizer. I shot the unpolarized version because I knew that the muted colors would let the lily bloom and its reflection be more prominent, colorwise.
That is a very interesting take, Mark. Thank you for sharing this. I really like the lily pads in the first image, but the lily bloom in the second image does show up better (maybe because it is a larger view of the bloom). I appreciate you sharing this. Both images, by the way, are very nice.
Mark: Wonderful scene superbly rendered. The other thing I notice that I think is significant is the lack of reflection of the flower in the polarized version. I like the more prominent reflection in the unpolarized version a bit better. Of course one could experiment with varying degrees of polarization in the field to effect the intensity of the reflections. Marvelous shots and a fine lesson. >=))>
In addition to the difference because of the polarization, the more intimate composition in the second version stands out for me. Both are well composed scenes and worthy of printing.
