Hibiscus – Juridicious

Pink hibiscus..

I’m just starting to experiment with focus stacking to get maximum detail while doing macrophotography. The following is one of my first marginally successful attempts! Comments and criticisms welcome.

Click on the photo for more viewing options!

Joys of a revived one!

My pot bound Chinese rose (Hibiscus rosa sinensis) almost died last year due to a nasty mealy bug infestation. In desperation I chopped the branches down till I was left with a few stalks and no leaves. I left it undisturbed over the winter in the conservatory with minimal watering. This year the plant is back and has set buds like the one shown below. Needless to say, I’m extremely pleased!

Best appreciated in large size. Shot with a Nikon D7000 and a 105mm Sigma f2.8 macro lens. ISO 320, 1/250, f/4.5.

Hope

A flower bud symbolises the hope for a brighter tomorrow

Anatomy of a Hibiscus – Part 1

One of my pride and joy has been able to sustain an oriental hibiscus plant (indoors) through the vagaries of British weather, and in return I’m blessed with vibrant red hibiscus flowers 3-4 times in a month, sometimes more. Here is a study of a hibiscus flower in original (untouched or processed, exported from Lightroom), B&W rendition (processed in Silver Efex Pro), processed using Color Efex Pro filters to bring out detail.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. 1/100, F32 Extenal flash used at right angles to ensure black background. — Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. 1/100, F32 External SB-600 flash used at right angles to ensure black background.

Processed in NIK Silver Efex Pro. Orange Filter.

Processed using NIK Color Efex Pro. Detail Extractor and Tonal Range corrections.

I like the picture as it was from the camera (untouched). Why process a picture if it doesn’t really add anything more to the photograph?

Thanks for stopping by, and please do leave a comment on what you think?

Technical Details

Nikon D7000 (Manual Mode), ISO200
SB600 Speedlight External Flash in Slave mode at right angles to lens
Sigma 105mm/f2.8 macro lens
1/100 sec, F32 to ensure picture sharpness and black background
Post-Processed (where done) using NIK Software LightRoom plugins.

Hibiscus Flower (redcelosias.wordpress.com)
Caring For Red-Hibiscus (colormeplants.wordpress.com)

Surreal

A Hibiscus flower treated in Black-and-White. I like the surreal effect that emerged. Processed using Silver Efex Pro Plugin in Lightroom 4.0

Hibiscus – A study in reds

Growing Hibiscus indoors in a country like Britain poses challenges. For one, these plants need to be grown inside the house all year round, and need good warmth and sunlight. But the troubles fade when the flowers begin to appear. Big red (or orange/white depending on the variety) short-lived flowers add much-needed splash of colour indoors and offer a hint of the orient!!

Green and Red on Black

A hibiscus bud against a black background. 1/2500 f/7.1 ISO200. Flash used to underexpose background.

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