Sunday, August 26, 2012

Ah, the Dahlia Show --

I'm going to be processing the pictures for a while, but I'll share the first few from the Dahlia Society show.  I love going to the flower society shows -- it's such a challenge to get good pictures.  I was going to take a picture of the whole show, but forgot -- but imagine, a high school cafeteria, not particularly well lit, people jostling in the aisles, cafeteria tables cluttered with plants and identification tags, on and on.  Not the best situation for photographing flowers.  Of course I can't take a tripod; I'd be in everyone's way.  So I take a monopod and do the best I can.   Here's an example of a sooc shot -- 

 
Kind of dim, and you can see all the clutter in the background.  Add to that the fact that my hands shake, and . . . well, it's a challenging situation!  But that's what makes it fun, trying to make something good come out.  So here's one:


 Linkup to Your Sunday Best

I used two of Flypaper's new textures on this pic -- Tiepolo and Trapeza.  For this particular one, it wasn't too hard to get the background dark and then go from there.  The second one, I wanted to be more abstract:

 
I wish there were a way to emphasize the curves more -- that's what I liked about the image.  Anyone have any ideas?  I tried filters like poster edges, paint daubs, etc., but in the end I liked the unadorned picture.

Finally, I did one with three flowers.  Here's the original:


These flowers were outside the main exhibit hall but still have a bunch of messiness in the background.  Here's the finished product: 


Linkup to Quotography

 I like the way this one came out, though I wish there were more leaves -- I guess I could clone some in, but . . . 

Does anyone else enjoy heading out with your camera to flower society shows?  What kind of results are you able to get?

12 comments:

Tanya Breese said...

beautiful...the last 2 are my favorites!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful processing job you did on all the photos. I actually love the one that is missing some petals....it makes it less than perfect...which in turn gives it a wonderful sense of character. These are just awesome. I need to spend more time with learning about processing...I just dabble in it from time to time. What programs do you use?

Nancy said...

So very pretty Elise -- are those coneflowers in the last photos?

Elise Ann Wormuth said...

Nope, they're all dahlias. I loved the puffy-centered ones. The flowers face you, unlike coneflowers, if that makes any sense.

Candy C. said...

Love your blog Elise! Your style of writing is very inviting! :)
Thanks for the photo editing tips and I will be checking out your texture tutorial in a bit.
P.S. My two cats look very much like your Buttercup!

Elise Ann Wormuth said...

Thank you, Candy -- I'm glad I've gotten back to blogging -- it gives me a kind of community, now that I'm retired.

Charlotta said...

Lovely flowers and interesting to take part of your editing process. :)

NatureFootstep said...

I love what you made with the last shot. It looks great. I have never been to any of those shows. I´m not suer tehy have them where I live.

Your welcome to my meme. :)

Unknown said...

So lovely flowers and pictures, gorgeous colors.

Marit, Norway

Lisa said...

Stunning shots of the dahlias! I really love the processing of the second shot!

Denise at Autumn Sky said...

I just joined your blog, came over from Nancy's. Your dahlia photos are so pretty, they make me want to go out and find a big flower garden.

Nicolasa @ {My}Perspective said...

Simply gorgeous! Thank you for linking up!