Christmas Azalea

This probably isn't the best image I've done. But, it has been an experiment on many different levels.

First, I bought myself a Christmas Azalea called Candy Cane. It has both red and while flowers. After Christmas I will have to give it away to my mom since I travel too much to keep plants up.

I then set up to take photos using more of an indirect light rather than flash. I spent probably an hour just moving the light around to create the highlights and shadows that I wanted.

While I was shooting I changed the white balance several times to really see the effects. I also varied my f stops to see which dof I liked the best.

Finally, after shooting, I decided to use layering for the first time. I am probably more confused now that I was before, but I will continue to work on it until I get it down. I was really struggling with how to convert my layered work from a .psd to a .jpg. Then I discovered that you had to "flatten" the image. Light bulb!

Then, paulabanks helped me sharpen it up a bit. Thanks Paula!

So this is the end result. I'm not too sure that I like it, but I am still learning. It sure takes a lot of time, and is a little frustrating.

Thank you all for your great comments, stars and hearts for yesterday's blip.