Tilting LCD

[sdwilsonsct]

I don't usually discuss gear, but I do love a tilting LCD for this kind of shot.

This is Anemone patens. Common name is prairie crocus, but it is in the buttercup family, it just looks like a crocus. Very showy early in spring before anything else is even green. The leaves come up about a month later.

[Colorado David]

Really beautiful image.  I wish the D810 had an articulating LCD.

[Isaac]

Pretty!

Were you tempted to use some kind-of reflector to add foreground light?

[Paulo Bizarro]

Simplicity in beauty.

Yes, tilting LCDs are really great for this type of shots.

[Bob_B]

+1. Lovely tribute to spring.

[NancyP]

It is a lovely photo.
Yes, tilting LCDs also avoid the "bums up" position that makes one rather self-conscious when people walk by. I have been photographing various short flowers recently with a 6D, and miss the tilting LCD.

[sdwilsonsct]

Thanks, folks. Good idea, Isaac, but I always feel that light changes too fast for anything but composition. This is HDR.
I will probably try wifi and a phone to get "tilt " on a DSLR, but see the above paragraph.

[Colorado David]

It is a lovely photo.
Yes, tilting LCDs also avoid the "bums up" position that makes one rather self-conscious when people walk by. I have been photographing various short flowers recently with a 6D, and miss the tilting LCD.

I've shot a lot of low angle stuff and you have to be willing and ready to lay down on your belly to get the shot.  Mud can be a problem.  If I'm on a shoot where I anticipate that I'll be on my belly, I carry rain gear in my pack regardless of the weather forecast.

[Colorado David]

Oh, and watch out for ticks.  Have I ever mentioned I hate ticks?

[sdwilsonsct]

Oh, and watch out for ticks.  Have I ever mentioned I hate ticks?

Picked up my first ticks of the season when I took the picture. Felt them crawling around on my skin for days after.

Yes, rain gear is great. But watch out for the cactus, too.

[Chris Calohan]

It looks to me like you used the tilt/shift blur tool in photoshop. Evidence is at the horizon line right of center where the blur effect wasn't totally blended in. I'll generally do a quick select on the area I want as the foreground and further work that with the refine edge tool, save that selection and then invert the selection applying the tilt shift tool (and or sometimes the Field blur) taking care where I set the horizon intersect. Since that comes in as a separate layer, I can feather the selection as needed or "paint" in a more graduated blend on the layer mask. Just a thought.

[mseawell]

Gorgeous! On my GX7 you can tilt the EVF. Seems like a gimmick until you start getting creative. It is no gimmick.

Mark

[sdwilsonsct]

Thanks, Mark. I really like the tilt for finding low compositions, as well as for capturing them relatively easily.

Chris, thanks for pointing out the mess in top right. It is caused by inattentive brushing of curves to brighten the foreground. I think I have fixed it with the smoothing tool in Aperture.

I sharpened the flowers and surroundings but the blur is natural from f/7 at 16 mm on a lens for an APS-C sensor.

[muntanela]

I love it   !  But I am biased, yesterday in Western Grosina Valley I have photographed all day the Pulsatilla vernalis that really seems to be the sister of this Anemone patens. (But the vernalis is shorter than the patens and my camera hasn't a tilting screen...)