Karl Blossfeldt (1856-1932) was a pioneering photographer of close ups of plant parts. I studied him in College a few years ago and his work was very influential on me!
This is a dandelion flower bud from the garden, photographed against the white kitchen door using only available light. Converted to mono and slightly toned green.
Dandelion bud in the style of Blossfeldt
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
Dandelion bud in the style of Blossfeldt
Canon 5D and 30D | Canon IXUS 265HS | Cosina 100mm f3.5 macro | EF 75-300 f4.5-5.6 USM III | EF 50 f1.8 II | Slik 88 tripod | Apex Practicioner monocular microscope
- Craig Gerard
- Posts: 2877
- Joined: Sat May 01, 2010 1:51 am
- Location: Australia
Larry, thumbs up! Nice.
That said, playing around with your image in Photoshop, I find myself preferring a neutral gray, rather than green, tint. And much of the histogram is unused in your image--I'm curious as to why you chose this. When I apply a curve to more fully utilize the lightest and darkest values, and expand the range occupied by some of the medium grays, your image becomes more powerful to me. To my eye, one of Karl Blossfeldt's hallmarks was his masterful use of the tonal scale. You're a knowledgable photographer, and so I presume that your choices regarding the tonal scale are carefully made. But my own esthetic choices--with respects--differ a bit. But I find your image inspiring.
Very best regards,
--Chris
That said, playing around with your image in Photoshop, I find myself preferring a neutral gray, rather than green, tint. And much of the histogram is unused in your image--I'm curious as to why you chose this. When I apply a curve to more fully utilize the lightest and darkest values, and expand the range occupied by some of the medium grays, your image becomes more powerful to me. To my eye, one of Karl Blossfeldt's hallmarks was his masterful use of the tonal scale. You're a knowledgable photographer, and so I presume that your choices regarding the tonal scale are carefully made. But my own esthetic choices--with respects--differ a bit. But I find your image inspiring.
Very best regards,
--Chris
Hmmm I wanted to keep it deliberately high key so as to create a vintage look- old films and camera lenses would have been much lower in contrast than today. Also no USM was applied, kept it simple.Chris S. wrote:Larry, thumbs up! Nice.
That said, playing around with your image in Photoshop, I find myself preferring a neutral gray, rather than green, tint. And much of the histogram is unused in your image--I'm curious as to why you chose this. When I apply a curve to more fully utilize the lightest and darkest values, and expand the range occupied by some of the medium grays, your image becomes more powerful to me. To my eye, one of Karl Blossfeldt's hallmarks was his masterful use of the tonal scale. You're a knowledgable photographer, and so I presume that your choices regarding the tonal scale are carefully made. But my own esthetic choices--with respects--differ a bit. But I find your image inspiring.
Very best regards,
--Chris
Canon 5D and 30D | Canon IXUS 265HS | Cosina 100mm f3.5 macro | EF 75-300 f4.5-5.6 USM III | EF 50 f1.8 II | Slik 88 tripod | Apex Practicioner monocular microscope