A Red Rose - help please

[Ronaldo]

Any help that can be given to do the following would be greatly appreciated.

I would like to take a picture of a red rose:

- straight on down at it (that is, not at any angle but right into the flower)
- capturing the whole flower in the frame, without anything cut-off
- as sharp as possible
- with as much red color saturation as possible
- and with as much "3d" effect as possible

Leaving any artistic issues aside, what are the optimal conditions, equipment and technique to try and "perfectly" capture the rose.

I will probably be doing this with a Nikon D90. So given that, what lens would be best, lighting, settings, set-up, etc.

If I did have my choice of camera/lens for the optimal pic - - what would that look like (within reason .

Thanks!

 

[Ronaldo]

hmmmm - - bump

Any recommended books or websites that might best explain how to do this?

thanks

 

[DanFinePhotography]

I personally have found that to get the results i am after i have to experiment with my own settings, conditions etc. You should go to your local florist pick the best looking red rose you can find take it home and arrange it in many different ways. Possibly put a black backdrop behind it and a little bit of lighting or try window lighting if its available. Every book your read or website you visit the techniques of each author is going to vary slightly due to each authors own opinion of how things should be done. Take a thousand photos of the rose or as many needed until you get the results you want. Write down different settings that work best for you.

 

[Morpheuss]

i personally would just try it and do it different ways with holding it strait up and it doesn't seem like it would be that interesting photo

 

[Ronaldo]

Yeah - - this is for a specific project. I'll surely do a lot of experimenting. But I'm also trying to cut down on the time it takes - - so am hoping to find out what others have done and learn ahead of time. Maybe avoid some common mistakes, etc. And maybe get some good ideas. thanks

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Any help that can be given to do the following would be greatly appreciated.

I would like to take a picture of a red rose:

- straight on down at it (that is, not at any angle but right into the flower)
Set it up that way.
- capturing the whole flower in the frame, without anything cut-off
Adjust your distance, or zoom, from the rose so that it appears in the viewfinder fully in the frame without cutting anything off.
- as sharp as possible
Focus well, choose your aperture carefuly for optimum DoF, and use a high quality lens.
- with as much red color saturation as possible
Set your camera to "Vivid" or increase the saturation setting. Or just bump the saturation in post.
- and with as much "3d" effect as possible
This will depend on how you light the rose. Yoou'll need a little bit of shadow to add definition. If the lighting is too soft and all around, your image will look flat.

:thumbup:

 

[Josh66]

Is this something like what you want to do?
A Rose is just a Rose. | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
(Not mine)

The rose is not red, but you get the point.

I just did a search for 'rose' on Flickr... Lots of examples. Many of them have the exif data, so you can see what settings & camera/lens they used.
(To see the exif, click on the 'Actions' tab and select 'View exif'.)


I don't think it would really be very hard... All you would really need is a tripod and a lens of a suitable focal length. A flash might be helpful too.

 

[Ronaldo]

^^^

Thanks.

 

[Ronaldo]

Any help that can be given to do the following would be greatly appreciated.

I would like to take a picture of a red rose:

- straight on down at it (that is, not at any angle but right into the flower)
Set it up that way.
- capturing the whole flower in the frame, without anything cut-off
Adjust your distance, or zoom, from the rose so that it appears in the viewfinder fully in the frame without cutting anything off.
- as sharp as possible
Focus well, choose your aperture carefuly for optimum DoF, and use a high quality lens.
- with as much red color saturation as possible
Set your camera to "Vivid" or increase the saturation setting. Or just bump the saturation in post.
- and with as much "3d" effect as possible
This will depend on how you light the rose. Yoou'll need a little bit of shadow to add definition. If the lighting is too soft and all around, your image will look flat.

:thumbup:

thanks