Gladiola

[amolitor]

Finally moved on from Tulips.

 

[leeroix]

Interesting... are those flowers dead?

 

[masquerad101]

I think they might be. you can see the top of a pint glass at the bottom right hand of the shot so they have been cut and put in a glass. nice shot

 

[amolitor]

Yeah, the top one has some life to it. I cut it from a neighbor's yard (with permission) after all but one of the flowers had withered.

I'm doing a kind of portfolio of these things.

 

[JacaRanda]

I keep rubbing on my screen to see if it's smudgy (it is). Was there lot's of cloning or healing done around the flower?

 

[amolitor]

You're seeing me painting all over the background, actually. It's too much in this one, but I gotta post it before I can really *see* it, if that makes any sense. There is stuff back there, which you can sense, but there's also me airbrushing blotchy **** all over, not nearly as subtly as I thought I was.

Partly, also, I think it's because TPF is unkind to the darkest tones, as well. It always seems to bring up the flaws in my shadows when I post. But that's a good thing.

 

[kundalini]

Yep, the background post work looks kinda sloppy.

 

[deeky]

The background doesn't work as mentioned, but I think it could. Use a much bigger and softer brush to feather it out and I would like to see the emphasis on the form of the flower it would give.

edit: Oh yeah, I would much prefer a flower not so past it's prime too.

 

[terri]

I don't mind the subject matter at all, especially in B&W. However, in this case it's the background work that is bringing the image down as a whole.

Partly, also, I think it's because TPF is unkind to the darkest tones, as well.

That's an interesting observation; I can't speak for the techie stuff here. I do agree that I struggle sometimes with seeing darker tones well on here, and generally put it on my crap monitor. But the vB software may have something to do with it, too.

 

[unpopular]

A long time ago, I did some similar shots. I find that it works better in heavy sepia:

 

[Derrel]

The gladiola is an interesting flower. I used to grow some every year. My grandfather used to be in the commodity bulb business back during WW II when the Dutch supply of bulbs for irises and glads was cut off, and growing up, in the summers we were surrounded by gardens filled with various flowers, glads among them. We called them simply glads in daily conversation. Gladiolas bloom here much later in the summer than in your area, since here on the west coast we have a cooler, more rainy climate. Anyway, I have often looked at dried up glads and seen the beauty they still hold as dried-up cut flowers. Your photo is not quite as "immediate", or close-in as I would like to see. I can't actually see much in it. One of the problems with web photos is how small they are, and on longer distance or overview shots like this, not a lot of detail makes its way to the viewers' eyes.