I need a second (or third) pair of eyes

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twiggy

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Jun 5, 2006
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Yerington
www.yeringtonflowers.com
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NV
I made this yesterday.. and am in the process of adding it to my website.. but the longer i look at it the more it seems that i have some serious gap-osis going on in the middle.. or is it they way i have it positioned in the picture? or have i just looked at it too long? american summer.jpg
 
One more iris in the middle ought to do it (or sub an iris for the center delphinium). You have 3 sunflowers, 3 roses, and looks like 3 delphinium.

like it, nice work.
 
One more iris in the middle ought to do it (or sub an iris for the center delphinium). You have 3 sunflowers, 3 roses, and looks like 3 delphinium.

like it, nice work.


I think it looks good. Have you tried just to lighten the photo, might help lighten up the dark green areas.....This is why stock photos are so nice. I find that no matter how good an arrangement looks in real life they don't always translate well photographically....But I think this looks very nice...
 
actually i have 3 roses, 3 iris, 4 sunflowers (one's in the back) and 5-6 delph...(came in kinda skimpy) .. looked great when i made it..and the reciepient loooved it, i'm just not sure if it's 'web-worthy' a couple of white daisy or monte-casino may have been nice there in the middle...
I may have to put it on the site and then replace it with a 'new and improved version'.
thanks for all the compliments!
 
Nice arrangement, but a good lesson in the way color photographs.

This is exactly why I steer brides away from dark colors. The human eye and the camera's eye can't discern dark from black often times.

Very pretty arrangement, but do add some white to it. That should help and look better on the web.
 
If you can, add a light on the left at the same level as, and pointed directly at, the arrangement. Just make sure it is not as bright as the main light. This will make the dark green on the left a lighter, more visible green like the right and should eliminate the shadow on the face of the lower left rose.

Also, consider moving the iris from in front of and behind the roses so you can see them. Sometimes you can change the perspective of the image by simply turning the arrangement an inch or or so left or right or raising or lowering the camera.

When you look through the camera at your subject, look at the flowers first to make sure that each flower is as visible as you want it to be. Then check the technical aspects of the photo (lighting, position, etc.).

If you don't have another light, you could reduce the light on the right a little and increase exposure time or open the aperture to achieve a similar effect (if you are using manual controls on the camera)

There is more to this, but it is all about experimentation.

Hope this helps,
Jason
 
Lovely in my opinion... and here's a different set of eyes.... white would detract from the image as a whole because that's where the eye would go. Plus I just think what you have is lovely. I do like the idea of a butterfly or something similar though.

V
 
Yes get some lights on both sides of the arrangement and don't forget to add some shop info on the picture that way you have little protection of your images.

I have been using lights two on the front on the right and left and two from the top. The two from the top really help greating the white background and getting rid of the yellow look. I stoped using the built in flash and this helps also create the nice white background.

Once I do an auto adjust using photoshop it looks real nice and then slap our shop name address phone number and web URL.

Designing for the camera is a little different since you need to always keep in mind that its a 2d opject instead of designing in 3d bringing your flowers up front just a little to show as many of the flowers as possiable.
 
Great Suggestions!

Hey all,
great suggestions, especially the ones about lighting!
Sfox, looks like you really went to the next level.
Twiggy, it's a beautiful piece. I'm sure your website is awesome....
 
Twiggy.....Possibly the only thing I might adjust in the design is the topmost delphinum......in the picture, it looks like the delphinum tip curls around and meets the tip of the myrtle. And that may be just as a result of camera angles.

One thing I can wholeheartedly recommend.....besides your knife.....a polaroid camera can be your most useful tool.....any arrangement you are not sure of, take a polaroid of it.....the camera will pick up mistakes that the eye doesn't see....This is because the camera sees it in a two dimensional environment, not three dimension as our eyes do.

Other than that, that is a beautiful arrangement, very well done. I'd buy it.
 
Lovely in my opinion... and here's a different set of eyes.... white would detract from the image as a whole because that's where the eye would go. Plus I just think what you have is lovely. I do like the idea of a butterfly or something similar though.

V

I was going to say the same thing about the white! I love the bright colors together - our cutomers would buy that beautiful arrangement in a second. I wouldn't add white because that tends to "shatter" the color harmonies and your eye goes right from spot to spot of white.

We have great luck with photoshop elements (thanks to CHR and others for this suggestion) and find that my pictures improve greatly by manipulating the lighting levels with the program. Especially the darkening highlights -- details really pop out of arrangements for me with that one.

Good job on the bouquet!
 
thanks for all the compliments and lighting tips.. i'll try them with the next couple of bouquets. what i've been using so far is the 4 x8 piece of laminate.. my little olympus digital (nothing fancy) and a tripod on a ladder (the only thing tall enough to get the right angle) and one set of three track lights all focused on the bouquet. I'm using Media99 for my site.. and they have been touching them up further (removing the shadows etc) I didn't have that version as handy as the one you saw..
Christi.. thanks and i hope the site will be beautiful.. it will be up soon.. and i will add that link to my profile so you all can see it!
Tracey
 
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