Lotus Flower:

Please click the image to enlarge  click back arrow <- to reduce

Mamiya RB67- 250mm lens  Ilford HP5+ film- On tripod. Exposure determined by Minolta IVF exposure meter. No data was recorded. The image was directly scanned from negative into Photoshop-4.

-- Bahman Farzad (bahman_farzad@spotmetering.com), March 13, 1999

Answers

Bahman-

BEAUTIFUL! Great effect w/the soft light on the larger flower, yet the small one jumps at you, but subtly, they play off each other wonderfully!

At first glance, I would say that your composition was rather basic. Fill the frame with the subjects close to the edge. But when I stepped back, it all fell together and the composition turns out to be wonderfully done! I think that it is because of the deep blacks in the background, that you also get a lot of inside the shadow of the first flower.

Wonderfully done...I'd be proud to have this one on my wall.

-- Jason Fobart (jason@fobart.net), March 13, 1999.

Wow. I don't know if you are a pro, but you could be. Beautiful, beautiful. I'd love to see an exhibition of your work in a gallery. Any chance?

-- Chris Hawkins (peace@clover.net), March 13, 1999.

Excellent and you sure know how to make lighting, texture and background work together!

A studio shot, I presume. If not, I'd like to know how you did this in the field.

Frank

-- Frank Kolwicz (bb389@lafn.org), March 13, 1999.

Thanks for your kind comments- This is perhaps the first Black and White image that I have not seen on photographic paper. It is relatively new and I am trying to get used to my new scanner for medium format films. As far as what I do, I am a systems engineer by day! by night I am a photo instructor. I am also freelance photographer. In between all these I have written two books on the simplified zone system and spotmetering. As far as the gallery is concerned hopefully one of these years. If you are interested, you can look at some of my work at http://spotmetering.com. This is my gallery for now! The image was shot outside - except the controlled background everything else is real. Lotus flower is big (the leaf can be 3+ feet in diameter and the open flower can be up to 1.5 feet in diameter. it is a majestic plant, it has a lot of character and I love to photograph it. The technique to photograph the lotus flower was explained in detail a few months back (September 02, 1998)in this forum. You should be able to find it under this URL: http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=00091Z thanks again Bahman

-- Bahman Farzad (bahman_farzad@spotmetering.com), March 13, 1999.

A thoughtful composition that works on several levels IMO. If you're using a desktop slide scanner like the Minolta, I've found that they can't see into the shadows as well as a flatbed scanner working from as large a print as will fit. But they're darn handy. Anyway, fine photography as usual!

-- Mike Green (mgprod@mindspring.com), March 14, 1999.

The subtlety, control and beauty in this image are a wonder to behold. Excellent work!

-- Garry Schaefer (schaefer@pangea.ca), March 14, 1999.

Mike: I am using a Microtek Scanmaket 4. It uses a new technology of scanning the negative or transparency off the surface of the film (i.e., unlike an enlarger the light does not go through it!) Although I am not used to the scanner, I have noticed the same thing; Lack of detail in lowlights. I also think that the scanner has an inferior scanning software. Its scanning Wizard is clumsy. I was told a more professional looking version of the software is coming soon. On the print side, it seem to be excellent. If one has many medium formats and 4X5s or even 8X10 transparencies, it is a great poor- man's print and negative scanner.

-- Bahman Farzad (bahman_farzad@spotmetering.com), March 14, 1999.

Hey Edwin, Nice shot!

Seriously, this is a stunning image that really captures the textures of the subject. The composition is top notch with striking contrasts of light, scale, and geometry. I mean this in the most positive aspect, it looks like advertising collateral for Ilford B&W film.

-- Joe Boyd (boydjw@traveller.com), March 14, 1999.