Subliminal Talk

Yesterday, I took some time to pick up my camera again and create some artwork. I decided to start creating artwork based on macro shots of flowers, since I can do that relatively inexpensively, in my home studio, without having to worry much about anything.

If you've ever worked in a photography studio, and especially with macro photography, you know that it takes a long time to get complex subjects photographed the way you want them. For the whole approximately six hours I put into this, I got one image that I liked. Then I spent another hour or two taking it from a RAW file to a finished JPG.

This is the result, reduced to 800 pixels on the log side. I'm probably going to have 1 or 3 full sized (13" x 19" or larger) prints made and then never print it again, as seems to be my modus operandi.

But I like it, and I thought you guys might also enjoy it. This one is entitled "Flame Carnation".

[attachment=87]

In case you're interested, it was shot using a Canon 5D-Mark II and a Canon 100 mm f/2.8 1:1 macro lens, with the shutter open for 30 seconds and the aperture set for f/32. ISO 400, manual exposure. To light it I used both an on camera 580-EX II flash and my Alien Bees B800 studio flash, both manually set to full power, bounced out of a reflective umbrella positioned directly overhead.

To process it, I used DigiKam and GIMP - on Linux, of course.

Very cool work Shannon. I would love to get into underwater photography since I got my scuba diving certification. That would be amazing fun!

Ryan

Fun, yes. But I don't think for me personally I could consider it artistically inspiring, aside from perhaps "found art". But I don't usually come up with an idea and then go create it, I usually find something that "clicks" or I study a subject until something "clicks" and I see what becomes my artistic expression.

Flowers are fairly inexpensive, and they are much better than using models. Much cheaper, more cooperative, easier to work with, smaller and they hold still a lot better.

For the time being, this is definitely a good avenue for me, as I haven't done this before except for one tropical bromeliad flower, the only existing print of which is currently hanging on my wall. I have shot flowers a couple times, and there is one image of a daffodil that I did in 2007 that I really loved, but I don't know where that is, or if it even still exists.

Flowers aren't my first choice for artwork, but they're not a bad one for the time being.

Awesome Shannon! Very original

Very cool +1