Another pair of photographs, this time taken in Kyoto botanic garden.
These were both taken in full sun outdoors. PP in Lightroom 3 was used to burn the backgrounds to white (the leaf) or black (the lotus flower). This was possible because the background was either on the verge of burning (sky) out or in shadow (background leaves). Taken as a pair they show two extemes of processing. No cardboard was used, nor any macro lens.
They were taken using a Canon S80 (leaf) and GF1 with 14-45 zoom (flower). The GF1 shows noticably more sharpness than the S80, but both are sharp enough for A4 prints. Normally I would have taken an SLR while travelling, but the GF1 did pretty well as an alternative that would actually fit in to my luggage. The S80, despite being a 5 year old compact, is still capable of giving excellent images if there is enough light.
I was quite pleased with these because I think that they show what is possible with quite basic kit and opportunistic photography. All comments or suggestions as to how to improve welcome!
-- Mark
