Liz's Rose

I guess I've been on a bit of a flower kick lately.  The truth is, I've been on a "shape and tone"-kick lately, and flowers are good for exploring that. 

This photo is going to be larger that most monitors, but I couldn't find a way to reduce it without loosing the intended effect.  I like this image for it's strong vertical lines, and chose the matting and framing to emphasize that element.  I used to hate these "digital" frames."  But speaking from an artistic perspective, they really do help to "complete the vision" of what's intended.

This is one of my first attempts at indoor studio lighting.  It's a simple set-up: a $5 velvet cloth propped under a three-ring binder, a card table,  a lamp, and the in-camera flash.  I have a long way to go before perfecting my lighting and macro techniques.  But with winter coming to Chicago, I may just have time to do just that.

This image is actually a long exposure, four seconds.  I was tinkering with how to get adequate light onto the subject without blowing-out the intricate veins on the petals.  The longer exposure under low light allowed that.