LX5: Right place at Right Time

The advantage of letting the dog lead, you never know what you'll find on the way there

I should have backed off a little more, the little flash is pretty harsh.

Any thoughts on what else I could have done to improve the shot is always welcome!

Still got the Flash Intensity EV compensation set near -2 EV? Even that may not be subtle enough (a translucent plastic diffuser of some sort, maybe?).

I'm not a fill-flash guy, myself. My eyes have real aesthetic trouble relating the flash illumination on the flower (nice capture) to the gorgeous background. The "fill" perhaps should be more subtle - or seems to me cognitively dissonant with what the eye would imagine the delicate glows of dusk.

I would let in as much light as I could, crank the ISO only as much as I absolutely have to, and bring up the natural lighting shadow-tones with Gamma using "DxO Lighting". But that's just me ...

I actually really like this picture. I see what you mean about the flash. However, you're commended for taking the camera out with you when you walk the dog. It's those unplanned moments that lead to the "art."

I've started carrying around a zip lock bag with some tape, toilet tissue and those thin, white, coffee filters. I almost always have the flash turned down so it throws less. When I "sense" that I need it, I tape a bit of the filter or tissue to the flash and let it lay over so the light isn't blasted on the subject.

Again, I think your capture is grand and worth printing. Get this in a frame and put it on the wall where you can see it and be happy everyday.

When I took the picture I wanted the background tree's silhouetted to act as a natural border, but now you mention it a little less shadow would have been better...live and learn!

Great idea Writerman I'll give that a go - the LX5 fits nicely 'naked' in my front trouser pocket so it isn't a palaver to carry around.

I received an 12x8inch print in the post of this picture today, unfortunately they forgot to also send me the frame doh.

After half a year I think I'm starting to get the hang of this photography lark - just how many shots is P1120763??

Tim,

Well spotted, good idea and great result.

As DM has already said, you could try -EV on flash compensation, which should help.

Stuart

Groovy colors!!!

I love the colors, the simplicity and straightforwardness of your approach and the use of the panoramic aspect in a vertical shot. Very nice capture, if you ask me.

That said, I feel there are still a few details you could alter to improve the image a bit. By using the selection tool in Photoshop (with just the right amount of feathering) you could probably darken the flour and stem just a tad; you could also open up the shadows on the framing tree trunks, or even saturate the sunset colors of the sky a skosh if you wanted.

Slight "smart sharpening" might not hurt either.

William Ing said:

William Ing wrote:

... there are still a few details you could alter to improve the image a bit. By using the selection tool in Photoshop (with just the right amount of feathering) you could probably darken the flour and stem just a tad; you could also open up the shadows on the framing tree trunks, or even saturate the sunset colors of the sky a skosh if you wanted.

Slight "smart sharpening" might not hurt either.

Click to expand...

I would like to have a go of it using DxO Optics Pro 6.55, as well ... but ...

... the prints have already arrived in the postal mail ... and the printing process itself may have softened the highlights in the flower. The Kodak system at my local drugstore sure seems to perform a bit of that. How the image looks in print may differ from we are seeing on our monitors?

Detail Man said:

I would like to have a go of it using DxO Optics Pro 6.55, as well ... but ...

Click to expand...

If you feel like a play I could send the raw over, I'd be interested to see your version.

The a4 sized print looks pretty amazing (despite my shortcomings in taking the pic ), having photo's on a screen is all well and nice but it's a whole different experience when its physically in your hands.

I'm not convinced about my 50x25cm canvas, it looks decent enough but I just don't get the point, it just doesn't seem as vibrant as a normal print...shrug.

silent tim said:

silent tim said:

Detail Man wrote:
I would like to have a go of it using DxO Optics Pro 6.55, as well ... but ...

Click to expand...

If you feel like a play I could send the raw over, I'd be interested to see your version.

Click to expand...

Sure, send it along, if you would like. Will forward any interesting results (only) directly to your personal email address.

silent tim said:

The a4 sized print looks pretty amazing (despite my shortcomings in taking the pic ), having photo's on a screen is all well and nice but it's a whole different experience when its physically in your hands.

I'm not convinced about my 50x25cm canvas, it looks decent enough but I just don't get the point, it just doesn't seem as vibrant as a normal print...shrug.

Click to expand...

Have never seen a CYMK separated printed version that has not looked different than it looks on a CRT/flat-screen monitor.

(Before my home printer died years ago, used to do a whole lot of post-post-processing (and sacrificed a majority of the paper) just trying to get the RGB rendition of the image-file to look pleasing when printed ... have made the rhetorical jump to electro-display-space long ago here ...

Any automated system gets tricky, too. The Kodak auto-tron at the local drugstore makes some of my pics look real nice - and others look real bad. There is highlight reduction and unrequested color saturation going on in the thing, and it does particularly poorly with wide Dynamic Range images ...

Saw this last night Tim, then my internet connection became problematic before I could give a comment – it’s a very interesting shot. The flash gives a 3d effect as it is a different type of light to that in the background. Good stuff.
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