Willsy

Ghost in the flower

This shot of a lonely frangipani flower looks staged but in actual fact this was nature at its finest. Walking the streets of Kuala Lumpur after a heavy rain sh...
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This shot of a lonely frangipani flower looks staged but in actual fact this was nature at its finest. Walking the streets of Kuala Lumpur after a heavy rain shower i spotted this flower sitting perfectly on the sidewalk, so i whipped out my camera, played around with different compositions, eventually lowering my stance to capture the reflection. I'm glad i stopped.
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Canon EOS 550D

settings

Aperture f/10.0 ISO 400 Shutter 1/60

upload_date

Jan, 2013

Views

910

Likes

+26

Awards

Superb Composition

Top Choice

Outstanding Creativity

Superior Skill

Jaw Dropping

Absolute Masterpiece

Peer Award

Exceptional Contrast

Magnificent Capture

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 20 rank

Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken on a side walk in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Time

The time was mid afternoon, about 3pm.

Lighting

There had just been a heavy tropical down poor minutes before the sun broke through the clouds and this flower was lit up beautifully as if it were center stage. Thanks to the rain a stunning reflection appeared almost as clearly as the flower itself and the lower my stance the more apparent it became.

Equipment

I used my Canon EOS 550D with 18-135mm IS zoom lens, I had only bought my camera a month prior so I had no tripod or lens filters to play with.

Inspiration

It was merely a short n' sweet opportunistic moment, I was actually taking photos of the Petronas Towers when I saw a number of these beautiful Frangipani flowers scattered on the side walk, the sun had just broken through the clouds and I knew I didn't have much time before i'd loose the light again so I shot this lonely flower from as many angles and positions that I could before the sun disappeared again minutes later.

Editing

Originally I'd only published this photo on the web in color, the color of the flower is so vibrant I wanted to show this. 3 years later I saw a contest on Viewbug for Black & White flowers, I knew I had a couple of black & white flower photos so this prompted me to go through my photo archive. I felt that nothing I dug up was worth publishing but then I saw this image in color and wondered what it would look like in black & white. I was already happy with the exposure and overall composition of the shot so I just needed to convert it to a black & white image without loosing the qualities of the original. I wasn't sure if taking color out of this flower photo would work because my previous attempts had been average. After finding a mono tone that looked right for this photo I created a duplicate layer and applied a subtle glow to it, this lost a bit of detail so I then used a blend mode to gently merge this glow layer back with the detail layer and this was the outcome.

In my camera bag

I normally pack my bag according to my needs on the day but when I take everything my bag will contain my Canon EOS 550D and 18-135mm IS zoom lens, a bounce flash for those dimly lit areas, a remote shutter trigger for when I need the steadiest of shots, my very handy B-Grip belt, my tripod when/if I need it, a variable ND Grad filter and UV filter, lens cleaning kit, two spare batteries and a spare SD Card.

Feedback

In wet scenarios try shooting low, the lower the better because any reflection in the scene becomes more apparent and just pops out at you. It's an easy way to improve on what might look mundane from a standing position. Also another wee tip for any scenario, always take into account what is in the background. Even if you can blur the background to some degree it really helps to simplify the background by moving around your subject and trying different angles until you find something fitting. In my case I was fortunate that there was step right behind the flower so this carried the nice stone texture seamlessly from the bottom of the image through to the top.

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Willsy

Willsy

Ghost in the flower

This shot of a lonely frangipani flower looks staged but in actual fact this was nature at its finest. Walking the streets of Kuala Lumpur after a heavy rain sh... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow Willsy

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This shot of a lonely frangipani flower looks staged but in actual fact this was nature at its finest. Walking the streets of Kuala Lumpur after a heavy rain sh...
Read more

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.