Senescence

[Pete Askew]

I was drawn to the wonderful colours in this fading Aspidistra leaf.

Shot against a 1.2m softbox using a Hassleblad 503CW / 50mm f/4 Distagon at f/5.6 1/15s (using only the modelling lamp) onto a PhaseOne P20 back. PP in Capture One 6 and LR. I plan to use this leaf in other shots but wanted to capture the colours and textures first in an almost technical form.

 

[Vic Shaw]

Nice quality, what about putting it more on the diagonal so there's not so much space around it( although there still will be)

Vic

 

[Pete Askew]

I had wodered about doing that but I'd have to increase the canvas size to keep the whole leaf. Basically I thought the image a bit uninteresting except for the technical quality. If I can find a translucent background material I will probably re-shoot it but the leaf is about 18" long and I'm struggling to think of something. Maybe a macro shot showing the textures and patterns would be nice - I'll see if I get a chance during the week.

 

[Dan Cattermole]

That's really nice pete, I'd have that on my wall as a canvas! Great textures. It certainly shows when effort has been put into a creation......

 

[Vic Shaw]

what about shooting it on that diamond patterned steel flooring you get on stairs etc, you must have a spare sheet of it knocking around!

 

[Pete Askew]

Actually I do have some steel mesh somewhere, now that is an idea. Going in close might be interesting. Here"s a crop of the above to give you an idea. I'll pop the 120 Macro on the Hasselblad and an extension tube tomorrow if I get a chance to see what it's like.

 

[Vic Shaw]

the close up looks good, I'd be tempted to flip it so the stains are at the top just to see how that looks

 

[Pete Askew]

Once I've got a better resolution close up I'll play with the orinetation a bit more using the diagonals a bit more. This crop is just beyond the limits of the file and is verging on being pixelated. Inverted would look better though.

 

[Pete Askew]

And here's a proper one shot on a 120 Macro lens plus a 55mm and 16mm extension tube, again against a softbox, onto a PhaseOne P20 (1s at f/11). PP in CaptureOne 6 and LR / Nik for output sharpening. Subject metered using a 1º spot-meter (Sekonic L758D) from the surface of the back-lit leaf. Mirror / blind tripped before main exposure.

 

[Pete Askew]

And here's the setup. Unfortunately the Ricoh didn't quite manage to capture the colours as well as the Hasselblad did!

 

[Paul Lange]

Wonderful textures and colours but I agree that the shot with the whole leaf lacks tension. Bloody good idea to shoot against the soft box, I have never thought of that and have a large oct soft box so will give that a try.

Is there any mileage in super gluing a piece of white cotton thread to the end of the leaf to bend it back upon it's self to give an interesting shape to the leaf?

 

[Pete Askew]

Thanks Paul but agree that the whole leaf is a bit uninteresting - I'll keep an eye on the donor plant for some more as a group might look nicer. Softboxes make good backgrounds for certain subjects, especially technical shots. As you can see this was also an octagonal box and the leaf was held in a clamp about 50 cm from the box. I just used the modelling lamp in this instance but the flash set to a low power is fine also.

The leaf is actually pretty delicate and I think it would break if I tried to bend it. I have some other ideas for it though...

 

[Vic Shaw]

that's neat, what about a series that runs the full length of the leaf, you could the hang them diagonally on the wall just like a modern set of flying ducks!

Vic

 

[Hamish Gill]

I like the macro one mate! Impressive stuff! Amazing colours

I have used this technique in the studio before ... Have you seen those huge backlit backdrops you can get? Fule in the venture style high key fire if you ask me ... But a good idea!

 

[Pete Askew]

I know the ones you mean Hamish. The Lastolite one seems the most flexible as you can have it with a black curtain or white or fire the heads into for the 'Venture' look - when is that going to go out of fashion? For small subjects I sometimes use a lightbox or a sheet of acrylic. I also have a lit platform on the Tessovar plus a very nice darkfield unit for it. When I'm back in the UK I'll try to find time to take some photos of it and with it for the forum.

Looks like someone got there first! Mine is the later model than these with the heavy duty tall stand and the lightfield / darkfield illuminated base (you can even fire a flash head through it - I have an Elinchrom head fitted with a fibre optic 'pipe'). A D700 sits permanently on top and with live-view, Helicon focus etc you can do all sorts of stuff. If you could actually buy a D3x these days I might even put one of them on it.

http://www.pixiq.com/article/the-zeiss-tessovar-a-macro-legend - DEAD LINK