Daisy Light

[aprilS]

Also a larger view.

[Theo]

solitude,warm,cool,crisp. Really love what you did with this. I can almost feel the warmth comming from the lamp as i try to read a novel. nice lighting. Great job april thanks

[eob]

Indeed, the flower does look like a lamp... Could it really be a fake? 

Beautiful, simple composition. I like that hard collision between an intense color and black background. And the lighting that makes the flower look like a lamp (or a lamp look like a flower).

[habakuk]

Another one of your excellent and highly addictive flower shots. What I like best here is the transition of the colors from cold to hot. First, I enjoy the ride along the stem with that interesting change in brightness and I end up in the cool blue area just before the color explosion goes off.

It is a shot which tickles my natural curiosity. I want to explore the scene, I want to see inside the flower, I want to go into the light, I want to touch the petals to satisfy my tactile curiosity. And all this is because I get the feeling I deal here with a special flower, with a seemingly shy individuum that does have almost supernatural powers to be explored...

I suggest you lighten up the passepartout a bit, so it's not pitch black but rather a dark grey. Imho, that works better to provide the dark area and the flower itself a nice stage.

cheers
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[aprilS]

Thank you each for your comments.

Based on Roland's suggestion and another to add some light into the lower right corner, following is one revision:



Though the matte is a solid color, I rather like the illusion of a gradient and would try this combination with a print.

[habakuk]

Hmmm. I like the lighter matte, I don't really like the 3D style border and I certainly am not positive about the gradient in the scene itself. To me, this simply adds a element of distraction. Now my eye tends to search the lighter area at the bottom. I prefer to have the flower head to be the only light source. However, I would probably feel better if you would suggest a light cone emitting from the flower head, instead of a linear gradient. But I'm talking about a verrry subtle light cone... Everything else diminishes the wondrous effect of radiation from the flower.

cheers
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[aprilS]

Ok; version 3 with a lighter hand.



I had to wait until dark to work on it so I could see what was happening. Even if it's preferred without the cone of light, I had to come up with some new techniques to create it -- so I've learned several things in the process. Thank you!

[habakuk]

Ohhh. This is VERY decent. I had to crank the levels up in PS to really see what you did.   Not sure if I like it better. I think sometimes the imagination produces way better results than the actual visual reception ever can. Thanks to your third version, I see how much stronger the pure idea of having a light cone is, compared to actually having one. Thanks for showing!

cheers
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[aprilS]

Thank you, Roland, for taking another look and the time to comment again.

I totally agree! Adding the "effect", even subtly, somehow cheapens the image. It becomes more obvious, and there's less for the viewer to bring to it on their own. An interesting lesson for me.

Which reminds me of something I read recently in the book Free Play -- Improvisation in Life and Art by Stephen Nachmanovitch:

"In resisting the temptation to accessibility, you are not excluding the public; on the contrary, you are creating a genuine space and inviting people in."

[habakuk]

I like that quote, and I lik even better what it does to my own thinking... Thanks, April!

cheers
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