botanical gardens 1 shot

[sgwrx]

hello. long time no post, but have lurked   i recently shot some flowers for a client in a local botanical gardens.  the screen shot here shows an image (we did not use) but for some reason i am really drawn to it.

the thing is, would this make a good print? you can see the histogram is heavy on the bottom.  and the image itself if dark.  i like looking at it on my monitor. but i'm just sitting here thinking, maybe some images are just too dark to print?  do you know what i mean?

thanks for looking. i'm hoping to post a few other shots too. but wanted feedback on this one since i'm so drawn to it for some reason.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I think that would make an excellent print.
It would require a good bit of care to keep just enough detail in the dark areas without spoiling the mood.

Go for it!

[francois]

Thumbs up, it's a beautiful shot… The shapes, colors and blurred background are all taken elegantly.

[David Eckels]

I agree with Eric and Francois, but you are going to need to get your L*ab luminosity levels in the darkest parts up to 20-30. Test prints?

[sgwrx]

thanks all. 

david, i'm not that familiar with editing in L*ab. here's what i did: i duplicated the image (16bit ProPhoto) and converted that to L*ab.  i've added a levels adjustment set to Lightness and changed the "black" end output levels to 20 while leaving the "white" at 255.  is that what you meant - generally?

i will give it a go.  i think most of the time i tend to the "dark" image and shy  away from  a "light" image. i think it's time  to loose that shyness

[David Eckels]

is that what you meant - generally?

No. Way too complicated. You can set your histogram settings in both Photoshop and Lightroom to give you a L*ab read out. Remember your dynamic range or contrast on a monitor is much greater than a print. I print on Canon 8400 and Pro1000 and I cannot resolve any difference (in a print) under a luminosity of 20 or so. In my experience that would be about 25,25,25 (RGB). So I have a preset tone curve in LR that I use to raise the low end (blacks) and lower the high end (whites). Blacks +15, whites -5 (L*ab).
Andrew Rodney(digitaldog.net) has some great tutorials. Watch them all! Also,
Charles Cramer (charlescramer.com) is a master printer and has some very sound advice. You can also find interviews with him here on LuLa and on PhotoPXL.
Good luck!

[sgwrx]

oh i see! i just started reviewing some of andrews videos and texts.  i've been away from this for a while but a few situations have come up recently both semi-professionally and personal