Rose Labyrinth (HDR)

Congratulations! This is the Image of the Week selection for the Photo and Digital Art Gallery, week ending 1st October, 2010!I spared some time yesterday and took couple photos of beautiful roses which I bought to my wife. I wanted to try something new and opted for a technique often used by Harold Davis - a flower HDR. I took 3 identical shots with difference in EV (-1, 0 and 1EV) and merged them in PS using layers with different blending modes and opacity. What do you think?
Bigger version: http://closenature.files.wordpress.com/ ... th-hdr.jpg
Single shot: http://closenature.files.wordpress.com/ ... yrinth.jpg

Equipment: Canon EOS 450D + Canon 100mm f/2,8 Macro USM + tripod.
Technical details: 3 shots at 1.3, 2.5 and 5 sec. @ 100 mm, f/10, ISO 100,

That's really intense, Tomas! I like your title- it goes beyond "rose". I feel like I'm going to fall into this labyrinth. The design and focus are superb. I like the effect, but perhaps it is just a bit too super-saturated? The large yellow/white edge on the lower right stands out strongly on my screen. Otherwise, it works very well. Nice to see your work here again.

A very striking treatment Tomas -- it is indeed a very attractive labryrinth. There are also lots of possible variations which you've probably looked at -- putting the rose center in a rule of thirds position, possibly with an Orton treatment to give one of your patented high key images. In any event, I like it very much, and as Cindy said it's great to see your work here again!

I think it works Tomas Agree on reducing saturation, should give you some detail/texture in the lighter edges. Like the framing a lot and mighty fine looking image !!!

Thank you for your thoughtful comments, it's good to be back I was surprised by your comments on too high saturation because I did not change the original saturation at all. To be honest I was amazed by the result and I still like it very much. Anyway I will put a hand on it a bit more and see what I can doo with it. The part that bothers me most is the brightest petal, it is really distracting.

Gary, thanks for your suggestions on different composition and trying orton effect on it. Frankly, I held my camera pointing to flower after more than 2 months and had not much time so I was glad I was able to do coupe of decent shots. The composition was a bit pain, it always is in case of roses with so much petals, I would say. So, I tried few compositions but this one worked best for me. That's what I like about flower photography. No 2 blossoms are the same so you can't exhaust all possibilities. There's been always something left for next time.

This rose is popping out of the frame. Great idea to use HDR to give more density and contrast. Will try that soon!
Thanks a ton!

I really like this one, nice use of HDR.

TomasTurecek wrote:...Gary, thanks for your suggestions on different composition and trying orton effect on it. Frankly, I held my camera pointing to flower after more than 2 months and had not much time so I was glad I was able to do coupe of decent shots. The composition was a bit pain, it always is in case of roses with so much petals, I would say. So, I tried few compositions but this one worked best for me. That's what I like about flower photography. No 2 blossoms are the same so you can't exhaust all possibilities. There's been always something left for next time.

Actually I was thinking of some simple changes in PS, like adjusting the composition by cropping and rotating 90 degrees. I completely agree with you about the saturation and the highlight area by the way, though the shadow areas could be less dense for a different look. Please don't misunderstand, this is a great well-planned image as you work always is --- my thoughts are just some possible variations using Photoshop with this existing image, rather than starting from scratch.

What do i think ? if few words is a great image !!