Tom and I want to celebrate the great images being created by photographers each month. For April we had to get creative with travel restrictions. We selected an image from our new Facebook Group instead. We hope you enjoy Kimberly’s images as much as we do.
Congratulations to April’s photographer – Kimberly Shadduck
The Story:
I stumbled upon a webinar by Harold Davis that he was doing for a photo club. I started watching it and was star struck. I realized that this was something I could do during the lock down. The weather was really bad outside and I craved something colorful.
I had my husband build me a 3 ft x 2 ft lLightbox. I knew I needed a big one. I went to You Tube and looked for a video on how to build a lightbox. The lightbox has 2 pieces of glass with a piece of white material in between. It is lit by a strip of l.e.d. lights.
Next I went to the fabric store to buy a white cloth with a fine weave for the white background. I also purchased tweezers and museum glue – I didn’t even know what that was! Finally I went shopping for live flowers.
To create the image I started by removing the flowers from the water and laying them on the box. I tried several different arrangements until I got the right one. Harold Davis recommends taking a flower arranging class online. I couldn’t find one so I just dove right in.
The tulip in the middle was actually closed when I laid it down on the light box. I started peeling back the petals with my tweezers to have the inside exposed. The white lily is a Sonata Lily. I thought the white color would really make the image pop. I couldn’t get it to lie flat on the lightbox at first. It made me wonder whether I should start pressing the flowers for future projects.
For processing I start by merging several frames in Lightroom. I export the merged file to PhotoShop to make my adjustments. I focus on making the image as vibrant as possible. I use a Waucom tablet to hand paint the image, mostly using dodge and burn. The last step is to add a texture background to give it a painterly look. I purchased a few textures from Florabella for this purpose
The Data: 1/500 sec, f/2.8, 200 mm, ISO 500
The Gear: Nikon D850 with a 55mm macro lens; Manual mode f22, ISO 200
Photo Tip from the Photographer:
If you can get a lightbox and go to the store for flowers, this is a great project for you. It is the perfect way to let your creativity go. I will start on a new piece and look up and 5 hours have passed without me even knowing it.
I like hanging my stuff on the wall. I want it to be pretty – that’s what motivates me.
On Kimberly’s Horizon:
- A Floral Workshop in August at the Chicago Botanical Gardens
Our May Photo of the Month will be selected from our Macro in May Online Workshop