Lotus Flower series:

Mamiya RB67  250mm lens on a tripod  Fuji FP4 film  normally developed. A gold reflector was used to reflect some sunlight onto the flower and leaf. Exposure: Pentax digital spotmeter, single tone spotmetering technique from white/yellow petal with N+1 interpretation. Added Red + yellow and sharpened in PhotoShop.

-- Bahman Farzad (exposeit-right@spotmetering.com), August 24, 1999

Answers

Sorry! The film used was an ILFORD FP4 not Fuji!

-- Bahman Farzad (exposeit-right@spotmetering.com), August 24, 1999.

I'm glad I have seen it before soemone propose to delete it (couse "they" talk about "the hand of man" an digitally manipulation) Thank you !

-- Adi Sorescu (guide@rokura.ro), August 24, 1999.

Actually, I do propose to delete it, even thought the composition itself is wonderful.

Digitally altered images do not belong in this forum.

This is not the place to discuss digital sepia toning techniques as I understand it.

If you would like to scan the negative and post that, it would be more appropriate.

But that's just my two cents worth and I'll be happy to go with what the majority of people think.

-- Keith Clark (ClarkPhotography@spiritone.com), August 24, 1999.

I think it's gorgeous as is and should be left that way.

Bahman I ordered your book for a friend of mine who just go an n70 and was driving me crazy with metering questions.

-- Altaf Shaikh (nissar@idt.net), August 24, 1999.

Beautiful as ever Bahman. I would like the leaf not to be cutoff on the bottom. I think the Photoshop "dark room" technique is perfectly appropriate and no different than burning, dodging or printing on bromide paper would be for a chemical neg. Silver based photography does plenty of manipulation, and it is needed to compensate for equipment limitations, it is just a matter of choosing a line not to cross.

-- Micheal F. Kelly (radiant@gci.net), August 24, 1999.

This is typical of Bahman and I now expect nothing less. Simply Brilliant. I vote that it stays. Red + yellow filters would be acceptable so I see no difference. I am curious, however how you get such black backgrounds and such good isolation on your subjects. Is this a special location??

-- Bill Wyman (Bill.Wyman@utas.edu.au), August 24, 1999.

"Should it or should it not?" My thoughts are more philosophical. First, I would like to express my appreciation for this image as a unique expression of nature. This photo has feelings, it has a soul. No matter if a nature photo is a very realistic, technically flawless portrait of the natural world or a more artistic interpretation as I see this one, neither is wrong. We portray people photographically and artistically in every way imaginable to illustrate complex human emotions and relationships. To deny such portrayal in the rest of the natural world is to deny such emotions and complex relationships exist outside our own species. I trust that most nature photographers are far too anthropomorphic for that. On the other hand, I feel manipulation of an image goes too far if an image is projected (pasted) into a setting where it does not naturally exist or at a scale that exceeds reality. In such cases I feel a sense of tension in the photo. Sometimes I am not even sure what bothers me (especially if the manipulation is made to look very real), but nevertheless something seems unnatural. For this same reason I am not a fan of Picasso or Dali, where images are severly abstract or surreal. So, Bahmen, in a few words, this captures the inner essense of the lotus and it is beautiful. Respectfully, Donna

-- Donna P. Bollenbach (cassidy@icubed.net), August 24, 1999.

Mr. Farzad, Another Farzad beauty. Reminds me home(Sri Lanka). Thank you for sharing.

Ranjith

-- Ranjith Wijekoon (kranjith@gisqatar.org.qa), August 24, 1999.

Deleting this would be a crime. Partly because Bahman has done nothing that couldn't be done in a darkroom, but mostly because this is a wonderful image that argues it's own case convincingly.

I too don't like the leaf touching the bottom of the frame. One of the beauties of this picture is its floating, aetherial quality and that's disturbed by the cramped feel at the bottom. If it's on the negative I would like to see the whole leaf and some black space, but if not I would crop higher up, just above the notch in the right hand edge of the leaf.

-- Struan Gray (struan.gray@sljus.lu.se), August 25, 1999.

It is a beautiful image, but you don't get a b/w image thru a red filter in the darkroom, not on the papers I use anyway. If the line in the sand is no digital manipulation then let's stick to the rule, I agree that it would be a loss, but not an irreplacable one, do it again without the digital manipulation and post it again. Pat

-- pat j. krentz (krentz@cci-29palms.com), August 26, 1999.

God made the flower, God made the Sun, God gave Mr. Farzad his artistic talent. When he uses his talent, with the combination of the sun to show the full beauty of this lotus flower, how can this combination not belong on this page? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If some people are blind to the beauty of this photo, then they should delete it. The rest of us will enjoy it, print it, I plan to make wall paper for my pc. Thank you Mr. Farzad for sharing this with us.

-- B. C. McGlaughn (BMcGlaughn@AOL.com), August 27, 1999.