I’ve recently added a fantastic tulip shot to my website and shop.
So what’s the story?
Spoiler alert, it’s not my shot!
Well, there’s a few mini-stories here: the shot itself, the post production to make it to my shop, and the software used to get it there.
The most important mini-story first… The shot itself…
It’s not my shot! It’s a shot my wife Kathryn took on her phone.
Last year (2021), we visited a popular tulip location locally which had been on the to do list for a while. So popular is this location, that you have to book tickets in advance, and have a timed slot to wander around.
Wandering around the fields, there were some amazing views and lots of nice scenes to photograph. I had my camera with me, and have put some of my shots up for viewing as shown below.
The main observation of this trip was that my wife’s shot was amazing, and easily better than anything I achieved that day.
First of all, and this is something I’ve complimented my wife on loads of times. She has a fantastic eye for composition. I’ve noticed this on many occasions and wish I had that naturally.
For her shot, she’d got down low to the tulip, much lower than my shot, and nailed the shot.
Second, the focus and detail in the red/pink flower offset against the yellow ones works really well.
For a smartphone shot, it’s awesome and made for an interesting discussion about why bother with a full blown camera if you can get photos like this with a phone?
It shows you don’t need a camera right? Not really. It shows that with certain types of scene, a fixed aperture, small sensor, lower megapixel smartphone camera you can achieve a fantastic shot.
Scenes such as close ups or portraits (not an accidental application if you think of selfies). I mention this topic a little more in my blog post on the judging the value of art.
Is that it? Is that the end of the story?
Not quite. I think the shot is that good it should be visible to the outside world and on my shop.
Worth noting that this is of course with my wife’s blessing, and any commission will be handed over to her, possibly minus a small admin fee.
The post-production and software
Before I just uploaded it, and thinking ahead that this shot is that good (IMHO) that it may sell as a large print, and in the knowledge it’s a JPEG image, I pulled the photo into Adobe Lightroom to take a closer look.
I used Topaz Labs Gigapixel software to enhance the shot in terms of megapixels. So, the image published is a enhanced image to facilitate larger prints with the online shop in mind.
What a thrill it will be for my wife and I if someone buys a print of it for their wall.
Onwards and upwards…
Lovely blog post dear 😘