Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Landscape & Nature Photography => Topic started by: Bob_B on June 05, 2017, 02:41:19 pm

Title: Daylilies (monochrome)
Post by: Bob_B on June 05, 2017, 02:41:19 pm
A couple of daylily flowers taken last evening shortly before sunset. Your thoughts are appreciated. Thank you for viewing.
Title: Re: Daylilies (monochrome)
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on June 06, 2017, 03:37:38 am
I'm very fond of b&w photos of flowers. I think the second is excellent. I don't like your processing of the first, though, which overemphasises the texture in the petals so much they look ugly.

Jeremy
Title: Re: Daylilies (monochrome)
Post by: Paulo Bizarro on June 06, 2017, 03:58:15 am
I also prefer #2. The flower in #1 seems it is a bit wilted already?
Title: Re: Daylilies (monochrome)
Post by: Bob_B on June 06, 2017, 08:03:47 am
I'm very fond of b&w photos of flowers. I think the second is excellent. I don't like your processing of the first, though, which overemphasises the texture in the petals so much they look ugly.

Jeremy

Thanks Jeremy. I too am a fan of b/w floral photos. With respects, I appreciate your thoughts on the first photo, although I cannot agree with your use of 'ugly'. The petals on the first lily have, by their nature, a rugous, wrinkled texture. That is the way this cultivar grows. I could have deemphasized the texture with neg clarity and neg contrast (even apply a gaussian blur), but chose to retain what nature provided, warts et al. Just my take, and not necessarily the correct one.

Best wishes,
  Bob
Title: Re: Daylilies (monochrome)
Post by: Bob_B on June 06, 2017, 08:04:59 am
I also prefer #2. The flower in #1 seems it is a bit wilted already?

Thanks Paulo; no, the first flower is at its prime and not wilted. This cultivar produces rugous petals. - Cheers, Bob
Title: Re: Daylilies (monochrome)
Post by: francois on June 06, 2017, 08:51:21 am
I also like the second flower but the first one is interesting. Maybe, it's just less harmonious.
Title: Re: Daylilies (monochrome)
Post by: sdwilsonsct on June 06, 2017, 10:27:45 am
The texture in #1 nicely sums up "Day Lily" for me.

Mine here in Saskatchewan don't even have flower stalks yet.
Title: Re: Daylilies (monochrome)
Post by: James Clark on June 06, 2017, 11:47:41 am
I like #1 better - a higher range of tonalities in the flower combined with the texture gives it more life.
Title: Re: Daylilies (monochrome)
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on June 06, 2017, 02:05:19 pm
Thanks Jeremy. I too am a fan of b/w floral photos. With respects, I appreciate your thoughts on the first photo, although I cannot agree with your use of 'ugly'. The petals on the first lily have, by their nature, a rugous, wrinkled texture. That is the way this cultivar grows. I could have deemphasized the texture with neg clarity and neg contrast (even apply a gaussian blur), but chose to retain what nature provided, warts et al. Just my take, and not necessarily the correct one.

Fair enough. I've fallen into the trap of overprocessing some flowers and ended up with results I considered ugly (which is, of course, about as purely subjective a view as it's possible to get); your #1 reminded me of them. But if that's what it looked like, then that's how it should be depicted, Cromwellian warts and all.

Jeremy
Title: Re: Daylilies (monochrome)
Post by: Bob_B on June 06, 2017, 06:15:37 pm
I also like the second flower but the first one is interesting. Maybe, it's just less harmonious.

Thanks francois. No doubt in my mind that the second one is 'prettier', better is a matter of taste IMHO.

The texture in #1 nicely sums up "Day Lily" for me.

Mine here in Saskatchewan don't even have flower stalks yet.

Thanks Scott. FWIW, sorry about your late season. On the other hand, I wish we had the views you have of auroras. Can't have it all, can we?
Title: Re: Daylilies (monochrome)
Post by: Bob_B on June 06, 2017, 06:16:56 pm
Fair enough. I've fallen into the trap of overprocessing some flowers and ended up with results I considered ugly (which is, of course, about as purely subjective a view as it's possible to get); your #1 reminded me of them. But if that's what it looked like, then that's how it should be depicted, Cromwellian warts and all.

Jeremy

I appreciate that, Jeremy.