4 for Four

[myfotoguy]

"4 for Four" because every year I get my daughter flowers for her birthday (one for each year). I was going to post this in Nature, but these are store bought and shot inside.

This is my second time trying a "formal" flower shot. The last time was a year ago. I blogged about the shot here and talked about my setup.

Sorry for the overdone water drops, but I have never done it before, so gave it a try. Which do you like better (if any)?

 

[SusanMart]

I love the coloring. was those roses of this color indeed?

I would personally make a triple photo, you know.
I would place three of them in a line, and that would look SICK I guess)))

 

[cnutco]

I have to say that I like the shots on your blog without the water better. Did you take of the group?

 

[pbelarge]

Tim
I like the second photo, but clone out the green leaf at the top of the flower.

 

[LaFoto]

Of these two, also I find the second more pleasing. That little bit of green would not have bothered me, but now that Pierre pointed it out ... I keep seeing it.

What was your light set-up.
I keep wondering why it seems to work in 2, but looks so "flat" in 1, despite the amount of droplets!? Who can explain that to me?

 

[myfotoguy]

Pierre- I was wondering if anyone would notice that and mention it, I just left it to see if anyone thought it added. I agree, so I took it out. Now I'm seeing it in the shots below too!

Cnutco- Yeah, I like them better without the drops too, I got some without the drops close-up, but didn't like the way they turned out. I may broswe through them again and see if I missed a good one.
Sorry, I'm not sure what you meant by "did you take of the group?" They are posted at the blog, I think you saw that though (a shot of the four together) maybe I should have posted it here.

LaFoto- I think the first doesn't work so well because there are so many drops, and they appear larger (maybe they are). I felt my eyes wandering around the image. I really wish I would have tried harder to get some better ones without the drops. I'll do it again if I have time before they die.

The lighting was a remote flash, -1.0EV with the on board flash set to "- -" (no contribution to the exposure). I just held the flash overhead and tried different angles with my camera in the other hand. It was really unprofessional, and I'm sure quite comical to see me working.

SusanMart- They are more purplish. The lighting really seems to have an effect on the hue. The shot of all four (below) shows them closer to the "true" color", though they are a bit more saturated in this image too due to PP.

Here's the above before I PP the effect: