Gerbera Macro

Paul Iddon

This macro is of the wonderful Gerbera flower. Studio set-up (i.e. in the kitchen, light from the flourescent tube overhead). Water sprayed across the petals (just a tiny amount from a very fine mist sprayer) and then photographed at 3 exposure -2/3, +2/3 and as metered. Camera was set to underexpose by 1 stop.

Taken on the Sigma 105 with a 21mm extension tube. The 3 separate images then merged as a HDR and tonemapped. Then duplicated a new layer and added a guassian blur, reduced its opacity down a bit and then selectively erased with various brush strengths the main droplets of water. Added a new layer and ran a 25 pixel high pass filter which was then blended to overlay.

Finally flattened and duplicated a layer again and then added a small 5 pixel black stroke and copied onto original layer and transformed the size of the top layer a fraction to create the thin inner border, and then increased the canvas size by 0.2 inches and finally flattened.

Phew!





Opinions?


Paul.

Cuong

Magnificent. My head's spinning from all those post proc steps.

Cuong

Paul Iddon

yukio wrote:

Magnificent. My head's spinning from all those post proc steps.

Cuong

Thank you for the comment.

It all took 10 minutes to do, that's all.

Paul.

spechtal

I think it's great. It's a very soothing image.

Swartzy

Yes
Quite elegant. I like it alot. gotta love that high pass! Nice soft mood.

Skippy

Paul Iddon wrote:

This macro is of the wonderful Gerbera flower. Studio set-up (i.e. in the kitchen, light from the fluorescent tube overhead). Water sprayed across the petals (just a tiny amount from a very fine mist sprayer) and then photographed at 3 exposure -2/3, +2/3 and as metered. Camera was set to underexpose by 1 stop.

Taken on the Sigma 105 with a 21mm extension tube. The 3 separate images then merged as a HDR and tone mapped. Then duplicated a new layer and added a guassian blur, reduced its opacity down a bit and then selectively erased with various brush strengths the main droplets of water. Added a new layer and ran a 25 pixel high pass filter which was then blended to overlay.

Finally flattened and duplicated a layer again and then added a small 5 pixel black stroke and copied onto original layer and transformed the size of the top layer a fraction to create the thin inner border, and then increased the canvas size by 0.2 inches and finally flattened.

Phew!
Opinions?
Paul.

I see the fluorescent tube in the reflection of the water droplet
The droplets stands out to be quite sharp, where the rest of the image is soft and dreamy looking.

Lovely shot Paul ... Skippy
.

Paul Iddon

Thanks everyone


I like it a lot too! :ivar


Paul.

Chrissiebeez_NL

great colors and composition!

i like it a lot

Paul Iddon

Cheers Chris. Thanks for the thumbs up!

Paul.

Paul Iddon

....


1: Take the same image 3 times.
2: Merge as an HDR and tonemap it.
3: Add a new layer, and set guassian blur to around 15. Reduce layer opacity to about 75%.
4: Erase section required with eraser tool.
5: Add new layer then run a high pass filter at 25 pixels.
6: Flatten and add border of choice.




Hope that helps.

Paul.

Lord Vetinari

LOvely shot Paul - great colour and composition
Brian V.

Paul Iddon

Thank you Brian.

Much appreciated.


Paul.

david-low

I liked the intense focus of the dew and a particular petal

Paul Iddon

Thanks for looking and commenting David.


Paul.