Bursting
May, 2014Views
2282
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Patterns In Nature Photo Contest
People's Choice in Creative Textures Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Creative Textures Photo Contest
Superb Composition
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
All Star
Superior Skill
Magnificent Capture
Genius
Emotions
Impressed
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Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 3Top 10 rank week 2Top 10 rank week 1
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MikeCeglady
December 05, 2014
Thanks, Alan. I never thought this image would garner the most votes! I guess you never know, right?
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KayBrewer
February 25, 2015
Hey, Mike, ya done it again! Congrats on Finalist in Patterns in Nature contest! (got your dress yet?)
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This image was taken during a day trip to the Sunken Gardens attraction in St. Petersburg, FL. This park has been around for quite a while, and is a beautiful place to spend the day if you love flora. It's a botanical paradise with countless specimens of tropical plant life.Time
I took this photo on the way out before lunch - probably around noon.Lighting
The day was mostly overcast, so the natural light was pretty diffused. I didn't use any flashes or reflectors. I wanted as natural a look as possible.Equipment
Really the only equipment here was my camera and lens - a Nikon D3200 and my Sigma 18-250mm respectively. This is a handheld shot, and I was holding the edge of the frond to try to maintain a flat focal plane for focus.Inspiration
In going to the botanical garden, I was primarily looking for patterns, flowers, bugs and repetitions. Stems, leaves, stalks, and clusters of similar plants were on my mind. Images like this one are some of my favorites to use for wallpaper and backgrounds, as well as printing in threes - imagine a trio of textured prints - frond, leaf, moss. All green, but all very different.Editing
I did a good bit of processing here, as this image was shot in RAW and was pretty tonally flat initially. I made sure the colors were adjusted appropriately to accurately show the contrast between the central spine of the frond and the ribs. I cropped with symmetry in mind, and cloned out a number of yellow spots and larger chunks of dirt (if I had planned on taking this shot, I probably would have brought along a damp sponge to wipe the frond off first). The truth be told, I wish I had processed more! There's still a lot of dirt in the folds and that kind of bothers me a bit, but maybe if it were perfect it would have less character...In my camera bag
Nikon D3200, Sigma 18-250mm lens, Nikkor 35mm prime, IR remote, Manfrotto tripod, Vello macro extension tubes, speedlight, extra batteries, flashlight and bug spray!Feedback
This isn't a difficult photo to take, but if you're looking to do something similar, make sure that you set your aperture appropriately and keep your subject as flat as possible to your camera's sensor so that the whole thing is in focus. Use your available light wisely and avoid reflective hot spots. And when you think you've got it, take 5 more frames!
