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Escape from Bubbleland
3rd PlaceEscape from Bubbleland
Dennisheckman


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Free Study 2020-05 (Standard Editing)
Location: Home, front yard
Date: May 23, 2020
Aperture: 4.0
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/500
Date Uploaded: May 24, 2020

 This is a field set up in my front yard. 64 images combined in HeliconFocus then processed normally in PS. The first Iris of the season for our yard. 2020 is a bleak year for flowers, at least here in Colorado.

Here are images of the set up.
I use a 12" diffuser when it's full sun out and a 12" reflector to get some light from underneath. I use Wimberly Plamps to keep everything where I want it. I use a Really Right Stuff macro rail and a remote release to trigger the shutter. Once I get everything set up properly, I start at the front edge of what I want to be in focus, and then work my way to rear of the space I want to be in focus. After each exposure I quickly but with a steady hand, rotate the macro rail adjustment about a millimeter at a time between exposures. This shot took 64 images to get what I wanted. Then I upload into LR and then upload into HeliconFocus and combine the images. Once combined, I export the single file as a TIFF and then open in Photoshop to start my regular processing steps. The wind was blowing a little, so I had to deal with some movement in the stacking, so that takes careful cloning both in HeliconFocus and PS. I intend on building my own plexiglass wind block so I can hopefully decrease the movement. It's important to have a decently high shutter speed to also decrease any movement. And I used a very small syringe to place the water drops. I'm usually not one for cliche images, but for these flower shots, the water seems appropriate.


Statistics
Place: 3 out of 73
Avg (all users): 6.7885
Avg (participants): 6.6250
Avg (non-participants): 7.3333
Views since voting: 955
Views during voting: 116
Votes: 52
Comments: 16
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
 06/09/2020 03:00:57 AM
Beautiful image. What patience with 64 images. What lens did you use?.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/08/2020 04:32:47 PM
Originally posted by roz:
I have come back to look at this again .. and it just keeps getting better ..
I truly don't understand why this didn't get the blue .. it's just out of this world stunning ..
it really is begging to be printed and hanging in pride of place in your home ..:)


Thanks Roz, very nice of you to say. Yes, maybe I will have this one printed.
 06/08/2020 04:19:13 PM
Originally posted by willem:
Stunning image. Well prepared and executed with great clean and appealing result. I love the fact you still used depth of field in your image to create depth. Wow, 64 images from a 50 MP (?) Hasselblad. How long did that take to process?


The processing is HeliconFocus took about 20 minutes, and then my regular masking and adjustments took another couple days on and off. The HeliconFocus can work much faster with JPEG files, but I like to keep the raw information through the entire processing time.
 06/08/2020 02:21:52 PM
I have come back to look at this again .. and it just keeps getting better ..
I truly don't understand why this didn't get the blue .. it's just out of this world stunning ..
it really is begging to be printed and hanging in pride of place in your home ..:)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/08/2020 11:20:54 AM
WOW!!!! Just WOW in every sense!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/08/2020 09:07:43 AM
This one took my breath away. Wonderful macro work. Congrats Dennis!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/08/2020 08:46:52 AM
Lovely image!! The water droplet really makes it a standout!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/08/2020 08:40:01 AM
This is a piece of art Dennis, stopped me in my tracks. Amazing work to achieve this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/08/2020 05:10:31 AM
Stunning image. Well prepared and executed with great clean and appealing result. I love the fact you still used depth of field in your image to create depth. Wow, 64 images from a 50 MP (?) Hasselblad. How long did that take to process?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/08/2020 04:31:49 AM
Glad this did well for you, it's truly stunning.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/08/2020 02:50:33 AM
wow - 64 four images, reflectors, syringe... well, I guess that makes the difference between a winner and a meh-image like mine
Congrats!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/08/2020 01:52:25 AM
This is amazing Dennis. It was my favorite in the challenge and knew it would do really well. Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/08/2020 01:23:54 AM
congratulations on such a stunningly beautiful image and the ribbon ..
i'm not one for setting things up .. but it totally works for you ..
this is so gorgeous .. the colours and the dof .. and that droplet is the icing on the cake ..
i think this is one of those images that will take a while for me to forget ..
just awesome .. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
06/07/2020 11:48:36 PM
Just beautiful! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/07/2020 07:05:35 PM
Beautiful composition, colors and clarity. My top pick.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 06/01/2020 10:23:04 AM
It does look that way, doesn't it? You made a story out of it. Nicely composed and good DOF, too.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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