Lotus Flower, a photo from Virginia, South

Photographer's Note

Hi everyone I am happy to be back after a very busy 4 or 5 weeks. I only had a chance to go out and take pictures a of couple times during the last month and this was one of them. This was taken in the excellent Lewis-Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, VA. I thought this was a water lily since it looked like one and was growing out of the water but the sign said it was a lotus which I guess makes this is a cousin of the water lily as I checked Wikipedia and it said blue lotus, Indian lotus, sacred lotus, bean of India, and sacred water-lily were all common names. It grows in ponds or rivers.

There are some notes I'd like to point out here. For the life of me I can't figure out how the background got black since it's really supposed to be the pond it was growing in. Let's just call it a happy accident as I think it helps make the flower stand out better. I most definitely did not add the black during post-processing. Also this is the first post with my zoom lens I bought a couple months ago. This was taken at the full 300mm. Lastly it was taken around 3pm.

lucasgalodoido, danielswalsh, Emile, ramesh_lalwani, feather, carper, plimrn, papagolf21, scobert, fayeulle, jhm, john_c, Didi, coco, Jeppe, Tue has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

lucasgalodoido (27698) 2007-07-10 17:06

Hi Stephen!
Very nice image of the lotus flower, the quality and sharpness of the photo is very good! Iґd like of the black background too!
Congratulations and Hug!

danielswalsh (13597) 2007-07-10 17:53

Welcome back Stephen...

It's a good thing you included a VERY good note- or this one could have ended up in the moderators waste basket (TE- TOS) ahaha.

Amazing sharpness, and a nice DOF/ bokeh. Rich colors, and a good exposure with nothing over/under exposed.

What's been keeping you so busy?

Cheers,
- Dan
(22 days to go)

Benedict (7076) 2007-07-10 20:45

an amazing macro clarity, vivid and crisp!
benedict

Emile (20352) 2007-07-10 21:09

Hola Stephen.
Welcome back.
Excellent shot of this beautiful and delicate lotus flower. Lovely colors contrast and very good definition. Good POV, the black DOF enhances the flower, good lighting, thank you for your note because at the beginning i thought this was a different flower.
Well done. TFS.
Best regards.

PixelTerror (0) 2007-07-11 1:44

Hi Steve,
Nice to see you back ! flowers close ups may not be the most wished subjects on TE being somewhat borderline, but you backed this with a good note and have a spot on focus on the center, congratulations for the new lens !
Have a nice day,
Jean-Yves

ramesh_lalwani (3213) 2007-07-11 6:01

Hi steve ,70-300 has helped you with this excellent macro shot.
Ramesh

feather (51130) 2007-07-11 6:45

Welcome back Steve. What a beauty you have for us. The light on the lotus is stunning and you have captured it with a perfect DOF. You're right about the black background making it stand out. Well done; it's a pity you don't know how it happened so you can repeat it.;)
Kath

carper (96) 2007-07-11 10:00

a very nice macro Stephen,
the pov is very nice the details are super, good quality and fine light,. good photojob. Have a nice day.
gr., jaap

jemaflor (147128) 2007-07-11 10:10

Hi Stephen,
Very well taken this lovely close up on this flower, great contrast with this dark background, perfect focus.

danyy (0) 2007-07-11 16:14

Bonjour Stephen,
une photo qui rend bien toute la dйlicatesse et la beautй de cette fleur tout-а-fait particuliиre.
Avec un arriиre plan effacй, c'est encore plus joli.
Best regards.
Daniel.

sabyasachi1212 (19779) 2007-07-11 20:48

Hi Stephen,
Good to see you back! It sure is a lotus, one of those which are common in our part of the world. Did you know, Lotus is the national flower of India? Excellent focus on the stem which infact holds the seed together.
With Greetings from India
Sabyasachi

papagolf21 (152607) 2007-07-12 1:39

Bonjour, cher Stephen,
Trиs heureux de votre retour, mon ami Stephen.
Merci, Stephen, de nous faire dйcouvrir l'intйrieur d'une fleur, l'oeil ne perзoit pas toutes les subtilitйs offertes par la nature. C'est une vйritable dйcouverte avec cette superbe macro.
Trиs belle photographie et un grand merci du partage.
Amitiйs.
Philippe

plimrn (21344) 2007-07-12 1:43

Hi Steve,
Woww, you capture stunning beauty in this lotus; I've never seen one captured more beautifully. The delicate colors, the perfect blossom, the angle that shows the petals and the center with excellent exposure, even your 'happy accident' of black background. I took a photography class once where I heard this is realted to a shallow DOF, but I've only been able to capture it once. Glad to see you back. HLJ, Pat

poulinp (4528) 2007-07-12 20:22

This is a wonderful macro shot, with big DOF, very clear and sharp. I thought the black background was a result of using a flash at highest speed synchronisation. Beautiful.

scobert (5355) 2007-07-12 21:12

Hello Stephen,
Wow! What a great macro shot! The lighting is beautitul and the sharpness is amazing! I have this Nikon lens, but I haven't found the time to use it much. It takes a skillful photographer, like you obviously are, to pull off a shot this good. An outstanding floral closeup!
Stan

fayeulle (27827) 2007-07-12 22:20

Hi Stephen
Very happy to see you back! Nice shot with tour new toy. With the ED glass from Nikon you can't make a mistake of choice. This is a nice flower.
Cheers
JP

jhm (211736) 2007-07-13 4:25

Hello Stephen,

The Lotus flower gives always something specially, maybe the mythe out of the ancient times, the black background is a very lovely contrast on the flower, very well done.
Thanks for sharing.

I wish you a nice weekend,
John.

john_c (24666) 2007-07-13 8:23

Hi Stephen,
An outstanding capture of this water lily, and a representation that I have not ever seen before. I love the lighting and also the subtle hues and tones. The dark background is very apropos. Very fine work, Stephen. I am just back after a lengthy break from TE.
John

capthaddock (28790) 2007-07-13 16:04

Hi Stephen - wonderful macro, so detailed and exotic... though frankly TE has been overwhelmed with pretty flower shots, some good often avarage at best, this one is a cut above the rest, but,... (read my updated intro for my general rant, just something I wanted to get off chest).

Didi (61589) 2007-07-14 10:51

Hello Stephen
Nice close up the heart of the flower looks like a sweet candy.
Very interesting incidental ilghts.
Well done.
Cheers.

mumek (20226) 2007-07-16 3:45

Good morning Stephen!
Nice to see you back. Great capture of the lotus flover.Beautiful macro with excellent depth of the field, lovely colours and sharp details of the flower. Thanks for very informative note
best regards
ziggy

cam (9043) 2007-07-19 18:55

Hi Stephen
Amazing view,the construction of your photo and the architecture of the flower,with its soft colors are eye catching.
Concerning the black background.I will think that this is due partly to the compression of the zoom lens coupled with where you did your autofocus,surely on the white parts of the flower,and under the sun,the opening time of your shutter was too short to register the details of the background.This is what i think and I might be wrong.
Have a good day
Charles

toto (0) 2007-07-29 2:06

Belle photo de cette superbe fleur de fort jolie couleur, bonne nettetй et bons dйtails. Amitiйs Thomas
je reviens

coco (30439) 2007-07-31 0:26

Hi Stephen.

Excellent work with the lens and excellent quality. Usually I don't like this kinf of photography, but no one can argue the quality of this picture.

Regards.

Jeppe (18654) 2007-08-11 1:01

Hi Stephen
Sorry I missed this beautiful flower - indeed a great view which present the interesting details of the Lotus - never seen this before.
Tfs
Jeppe

Tue (92360) 2007-08-15 10:24

Hej Stephen,
What a great capture of this flower. Fantastic quality. The colours and light are beautiful and I like very much the black background. Well done!
Regards,
Lars

Photo Information

Copyright: Stephen Inguanti (singuanti) (15250)
Genre: МЕСТА
Medium: ЦВЕТНОЙ
Date Taken: 2007-06-23
Categories: ПРИРОДА
Camera: Nikon D200, Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED AFS VR, Hoya HMC Super UV(0)
Exposure: f/6.3, 1/1250 секунд
More Photo Info: view
Версия: Оригинальная версия
Date Submitted: 2007-07-10 16:40
Избранное: 1 [view]