Used a dark background and removed several leaves and stems. Edited in LR, PS and Topaz software.
Any
Is this a composite: No
Canon 5ds-r with 180mm macro lens at f6.3, 1/2500sec. and ISO 800. I was going to ask anyone’s advice why my shot came out very dark but I suspect the 1/2500 sec. setting was the reason.
Probably, yes, that’s the reason, but I like the shot. It’s lovely in its detail, but you might try a short focus stack bringing the other two petals into crisp alignment with the others. It probably wouldn’t take a lot of images to do it, but it seems worth trying. The background makes it a glamour shot! You could also have a go at toning down the green just a little. It seems to be too rich for the orange. Terrific work.
Excellent points from @Kris_Smith. It’s a lovely flower, well composed.
Not sure what you mean by turned out very dark – the exposure here looks good. Did you have to bring up the exposure in processing? There could be 3 reasons for a dark exposure – using manual exposure with too fast a shutter speed, too low and ISO or too small an aperture – or using an exposure compensation that was too low – or letting the exposure sensor look at too bright an area and direct autoexposure to be too low. The shutter speed is only relative to the other settings, and 1/2500 could have given a significant overexposure for some ISO and aperture combinations.
Thanks Kristen and Diane, totally agree with your assessments. The photos came out of the camera very dark so I had to bring up the exposure in PS.
Wayne: Beautiful flower significantly enhanced by the water drops. I especially like the tiny drops on the ends of the pistils. Well composed and presented. >=))>
That’s a nice stack of the hydrangea, John. I agree with Kris about the hibiscus also possibly benefitting from a stack, especially as you seem to be very good at the technique! However, sometimes a shot looks just as good (or even better) when there is some part out of focus, even within a single bloom, as here. This OOF part directs our eyes more to the little red and yellow parts - while we can still appreciate the whole too. Lovely shot.
