The Red Tulip

A few people were interested in what software programs I used for enhancement for the tulip series of studio photographs.
The answer is none ! All the photographs , and there are about 300 of them so far, have been taken using manual settings in the camera for both speed and aperture. I experiment with a combination of settings.
In the case of the tulip series I take the shots in RAW format with the in-camera settings for at standard definition but with the sharpening pushed from neutral to +2, on a scale of +/- 5.
I upload the files into Aperture 3 and convert from RAW to jpeg so that they can be uploaded to Blipfoto. The only change made is cropping the jpeg.
One of the keys is my light source. I use 2 x24 inch hexagonal light boxes mounted on stands and I experiment with intensity, position etc until I get the effect I want. I did not use my speedlight for this series.
The camera is mounted on a Manfrotto tripod and I have been using my Nikon 24-70 f2.8 lens on my D700 with a manual remote release.
It seems like a lot of trouble but I love doing it and , quite frankly, for me it's the only way to learn.
I get a much better sense of achievement when I see a result I really like knowing that it was taken by the camera and not just post-processing an average photograph.
Not for everyone but it's what I like to do.

douglas