A few from the studio.

[NickCantle]

hey guys, just wanted to pop these somewhere, and this seems appropriate, so here we are! I've just been taking pics of various blossoms and flowers in my homemade studio - which is just an empty wardrobe painted white, lol. I've been using my Metz 45 CL4 Hammerhead flash gun and my Sigma 105mm. My success rate is definitely improving now, but I've been at these flowers for a few days. Got 4 that I reckon are alright Have a butcher's









Cheers!

Nick

[naturelover]

Very nice nick,love the coloured one the best very 3D,i am a flower girl,one of the best subjects to photoe,never let you down,i do like the black background very artistic.

[LoveT]

Lovely shots Nick I like them very much - very subtle lighting.

At least with this method you don't need to worry about movement and blurring caused by breeze etc.

Keep 'em coming!

Thea

[Bub-les]

Like the photos
Just a couple of things the last one is not a begonia its an alstroemeria
also for me there is too much background and needs a tighter crop.

[peppermint]

very nice. The 3rd one is my favourite. I agree about the 4th one having a little too much background. Lovely work though, very sharp, keep them coming!

[NickCantle]

Thanks for the encouraging words guys, and the correction of flower type Bub-les I too agree that I need a tighter crop on the last one. It's something that will be worked on and hopefully improved.

Cheers,

Moi

[gfilmsuk]

I don't agree Nick. The 4th shot is also good. The subject doesn't always need to be tightly cropped or in the center of frame. This one would be perfect for adding text to the image.
Dave

[eeyore]

nice work nick - have you thought about putting the light source behind the flower and going for a rim lighting effect ?

btw i agre with gfilms about the value of dead space for shots sold to magazines etc for text to be added , however for this the fourth one would have benefited from a slightly higher angle to include the top of the flower.

[NickCantle]

Well, i'm indifferent with that one I think; When i first read Bub-les' comment about it, I thought to myself "I want that amount of space" but after looking at it, I realised I probably could have reduced the space just a tad. Pete, I'll keep trying different lighting rigs and i'll report back with results. It's just a big experimental journey. I have to say though, it's nice photographing flora in the studio under nice lights.

Cheers guys,

Nick

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by NickCantle

Pete, I'll keep trying different lighting rigs and i'll report back with results. It's just a big experimental journey. I have to say though, it's nice photographing flora in the studio under nice lights.

Cheers guys,

Nick

another thing you could try would be to use a reading lamp or powerful torch with a snoot (cone of black paper) as a secondary light source - dont forget to alter your WB tho

or get a second flash gun and fit a slave unit (not expensive on ebay etc) - two lights gives you a lot of flexibility.

its also simple and cheap to knock up a softbox out of a wooden frame and an old bit of sheet for those soft light moments

i have nearly as much fun improvising odds and sods for the home studiou as i do actually using it