Orchids!

I attended the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum's annual orchid show recently. Splendid specimens and a haven for flower and macro photographers. The first 3 images were all processed as HDR, primarily using the Tone Compressor method. I experimented with focus stacking for the first time. This is a technique using multi-shots at different focusing depths and using Adobe Photoshop® to first stack them and mask out the out of focus areas to increase Depth of Field. The most effective way to accomplish this (besides lots of practice...no secret there!) is to use a focus rail which I don't currently have. These were my first attempt. Let me know what you think!

Images were shot with the Canon 5DMII and the Canon 50mm Macro Lens. The last 2 images were shot with the Lens Baby 2.0.

Be sure to click on each image to enlarge it.

This image was created from 3 stacked images to increase focus and Depth of Field. In addition to adding contrast using Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0® additional texture was selectively added using OnOne PhotoTools® Watercolor and Texture effects.




The following image was created from 4 stacked images to increase focus and Depth of Field. After HDR processing, it was also put through Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0® Pro Contrast and the color was selectively allowed to distort to the blue/green tones.




This image and following one were created using the Lens Baby® 2.0 with a 10x magnifier. This novelty lens allows you to distort and selectively blur an image. Some of the edges were resharpened using Adobe Photoshop® Unsharpen Mask.




This black and white image was processed and blended using Adobe Lightroom® Black and White High Contrast and Black and White Low Contrast. The borders were punched up a bit using Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0® Glamour Glow and Texture was added using OnOne PhotoTools®.



For more information,

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4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
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steve@stevesilvermanimaging.com