HOME | DD
ash —
Promise
Published: 2003-03-08 17:25:47 +0000 UTC; Views: 2860; Favourites: 38; Downloads: 140
Redirect to original
Description
An unopened King ProteaSilvermine, Western Cape, South Africa, February 2003
Canon EOS 300, Canon 28-90mm, Fuji 100 ACROS
The King Protea is South Africa's national flower
Related content
Comments: 43
brilliant. abstract. favourite.
Looks like one of these microscopic photographs...
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
What time of day did you take this shot?
About three or four in the afternoon. The protea was growing wild on a hillside, as they do
I find it too dark to be really appealing.. I'm very fond of black and white photography, but when it comes to a subject that is better presented in colour, it is hard for me to see it as a black and white photo
Yes I also think it's a little too dark; I've turned down the gamma on my screen just yesterday after seeing how dark my images appear on other people's screens.
As for the 'better presented in colour' part, well each to their own. I think a good colour shot of a protea would be a damn good thing -- but if I had shot this same scene in colour it wouldn't have been a good colour shot of a protea. The real colours are quite muted actually, particularly since the protea is unopened. Moreover I think the b&w accomplishes a few things that a colout shot couldn't: it forces the viewer's attention onto the structure of the plant, and the light, and prevents them from prejudging the shot as "another flower picture".
That said, I think the picture has a cold look to it which is perhaps not ideal for the subject -- it would have been less cold if I had toned it with a subtle warm tone, as it is this is a pure grey which lends it that steely artificial look, like an electron micrograph as jmcc said.
Thanks to everyone for their comments, and particularly to jibrille for his honest criticism.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
...Natural...Simplicity and complexity together...Simply beautiful....
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
WOW dude...I know you dont know me, but this is an AWESOME picture. You captured aboslute beauty, VERY nice...
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Beautiful, like a gothic Georgia O' Keefe .
What time of day did you take this shot?
*opens your gallery new window to see more of your work*
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I find it too dark to be really appealing.. I'm very fond of black and white photography, but when it comes to a subject that is better presented in colour, it is hard for me to see it as a black and white photo.
I guess congrats none the less.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
The details... wow....
The crispness of this image is just amazing.
Great photo!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
awesome pic. Its so great to always see such nice pictures that move me deep inside. great work. great work
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Congrats on the DD!! Thanks for sharing your beautiful work with us!
Wonderful light and lines, excellent work in highlighting the unopened flower, beautiful.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
The darkness really pulls you into the photo and makes you look. I love the contrast.
Nice work.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Gorgeous!
Great contrast...A flower in b&w?! original!
Very nice job.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
the detail is amazing, me got my first acrools film, today! gonna try it out on meduim format and 35mm this weekend and see the diffrence!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Creepy almost. Reminds me of a capture from a time elapsed video of a flower opening for some reason.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Those are some thick leaves! T'would be a nice wallpaper, too. I'm not one to seek out photos, as I couldn't tell the difference between and f-stop and a g-spot...(sorry, private joke)...but when something fine like this is pointed out then I have to see it.
Nice job...
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
oh lord That's supremely cool.. ehem print? Ima put this up at work so i get good tips from the south africans
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Chilling lighting- and what an interesting plant!! Beautiful detail. Congrats on DD!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
congrats on the DD.
'tis why ur one of my favorite photographers.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Thats insane quality. I didnt know anything could look so crisp. Great lighting and thats a cool smooth color that it has. Great job - definately worthy.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Oh yeah thats really great easpecially the lightning
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
The shot is great. The detail is unbelievable and the color (or lack of) is absolutely wonderful.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Very cool shot man, I spotted it on the photography featured deviation. the detail is quite amazing, you clearly know what you are doing when it comes to b/w photography!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Thanks, everyone. The shot was taken with a Canon EOS 300 film camera, which is called the Rebel 2000 in the US for some reason. The lens was a Canon 28-90mm f4.0-f5.6, which is kind of the basic cheap Canon lens for this camera. The shot was manually focussed.
The shot isn't strictly a 'macro' since the lens isn't a macro lens. The flower is about 8cm in diameter and was probably shot from a distance of about 30cm, which is the minimum focal distance of the lens.
King Proteas can get pretty big (hence the name I guess), when they open up fully they can be about 15-20cm across. The petals are pearly pink, almost irridescent, with a soft silky texture.
The credit for the detail must go to the film and the scanner. The film is acros, fuji's new flagship 100 ASA ultra fine grained black and white film, and the scanner is a Canoscan FS4000US film scanner. The shot was scanned directly from the negative and touched up in photoshop. Any 'grain' is most likely scanner noise.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
definitely good job, I am amzed how detailed, close and sharp at such distance...excellent shot!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
wow...awesome macro shot...i cant believe you didnt get more comments than this!!! crazy people im gonna +fav it...awesome job! What kind of camera did u take this with...u use any lenses? Great job again
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Ooh~! it looks so nice. yet unreal.. *chews on the flower*
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This a great image. Amazing lighting and great qulity. What else is there to say great photo.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Almost unreal... what a detail... awesome!! , you really know how to capture those special moments
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
crazy tone. You have been taking such awesome pictures, i feel that either i must visit you or give up photography and start studying your work.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This is beautiful. The lighting and everything is just perfect. I can almost feel the texture of the leaves and flower.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
wicked. i love the detail, and the obvious amount of detail that went into this. amd :+love:
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Very nice. I love the detail and the contrast is bang on.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
"Sculptural" was the first word that came to mind, especially the outer leaves; they look like they were cast ini metal. I like how all they pull around the central bit to draw attention to it.
This also reminds me of those electron microscope images of dust motes and such. The colors (or lack thereof) and textures are a lot like what you see in those.
Nifty.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This looks so abstract! I like the darkness of the photo, really draws you in to see what it is. Great work
👍: 0 ⏩: 0