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Lilies of the Valley
Yesterday I came across a piece of music through a noble advertising trailer of a French watch company with the wonderful actors Catherine Deneuve and Rami Malek directed by Guy Ritchie. I was almost magically drawn to the film because there was a time when I lived in Paris.
But the most exciting thing was the soundtrack „Lilies of The Valley“, which exuded such an incredible lightness. I hadn’t heard of the composer Jun Myiake before, but I did know Arto Lindsay, who added his inimitable vocals. Perhaps one cannot leave the cosmos of one’s own taste.
That’s why I quickly set off to get some lilies in town. They were to be white lilies, of which I could only get two. Red lilies in all stages of blossoming I then allowed myself to enjoy. So I took some pictures with a mixed bouquet of paradisiacal blooming lilies.
Paradisiacal bouquet of blossoming lilies © Julian Köpke -
Spring Dance of Tulips
Today the sun shone warmly, almost too warm for a day in mid-February. A few tulips given as gifts were getting older in the vase and one started to hang its head. They had delighted us with their colourfulness for many days.
So I decided to do a photo series with tulips on my lightbox.
Tulips are best suited for scenic representations because they look like a human person against a light background. Dance is the most obvious association I have then. The leaves become whirling arms. The flower is the head. The legs are not really needed.
Spring Dance of Tulips © Julian Köpke If the tulips lie close together, you get the impression of a tapestry. The light from the lightbox penetrates well enough to create an airy effect.
Spring Dream of the Tulips © Julian Köpke Here they show themselves in a formation like a dance group.
Folk dance group from tulips © Julian Köpke -
Fusion Imaging of Flowers
Find some technical explanations in my FAQ section.
Composition with roses X-ray image fusion © Julian KöpkeComposition with roses X-ray image fusion © Julian KöpkeChrysanthemum X-ray fusion photography © Julian KöpkeChrysanthemum X-ray fusion photography © Julian KöpkeAmaryllis X-ray mammography fusion photography texturized © Julian KöpkeAmaryllis X-ray mammography fusion photography texturized © Julian KöpkeFusion X-ray photo Calla lilies IV © Julian KöpkeFusion X-ray photo Calla lilies IV © Julian KöpkeTwo roses fusion X-ray photo © Julian KöpkeTwo roses fusion X-ray photo © Julian KöpkeThree purple Clematis fusion X-ray photo © Julian KöpkeThree purple Clematis fusion X-ray photo © Julian KöpkeCornflower X-ray fusion photo © Julian KöpkeCornflower X-ray fusion photo © Julian KöpkeBlue aquilegia X-ray fusion photo © Julian KöpkeBlue aquilegia X-ray fusion photo © Julian KöpkeFusion X-ray photo Calla lilies IV. Black background using Lab inversion. © Julian KöpkeFusion X-ray photo Calla lilies IV. Black background using Lab inversion. © Julian KöpkeThree purple tulips fusion X-ray photo © Julian KöpkeThree purple tulips fusion X-ray photo © Julian KöpkeX-ray fusion image of yellow Calla Lilies © Julian KöpkeX-ray fusion image of yellow Calla Lilies © Julian KöpkeFusion image rose and pink dahlia © Julian KöpkeFusion image rose and pink dahlia © Julian KöpkeX-ray fusion image of a Gloriosa lilly © Julian KöpkeX-ray fusion image of a Gloriosa lilly © Julian KöpkeFusion image of a Bird of Paradise. © Julian KöpkeFusion image of a Bird of Paradise. © Julian KöpkeFusion image Hydrangea © Julian KöpkeFusion image Hydrangea © Julian KöpkeFusion image Dahlia © Julian KöpkeFusion image Dahlia © Julian Köpke -
Flowers on Black
Using Lab-colors a black background can be achieved by inverting the L-channel.
Fusion X-ray photo Calla lilies IV. Black background using Lab inversion. © Julian KöpkeFusion X-ray photo Calla lilies IV. Black background using Lab inversion. © Julian KöpkeComposition © Julian KöpkeComposition © Julian KöpkeWhite Amaryllis © Julian KöpkeWhite Amaryllis © Julian KöpkeRose leaves © Julian KöpkeRose leaves © Julian KöpkePapaver II © Julian KöpkePapaver II © Julian KöpkeClematis © Julian KöpkeClematis © Julian KöpkeRed amaryllis on a lightbox with a black background © Julian KöpkeRed amaryllis on a lightbox with a black background © Julian KöpkeAmaryllis Lab color inversion photography © Julian KöpkeAmaryllis Lab color inversion photography © Julian Köpke -
Flowers on a Lightbox
Get some technical aspects about photographing and processing flowers on a lightbox from Harold Davis.
Dahlias using manual HDR in visible lightDahlias using manual HDR in visible lightSpring Dance of Tulips © Julian KöpkeSpring Dance of Tulips © Julian KöpkeWhite and purple orchid © Julian KöpkeWhite and purple orchid © Julian KöpkeHDR Calla lilies © Julian KöpkeHDR Calla lilies © Julian KöpkeYellow gerbera © Julian KöpkeYellow gerbera © Julian KöpkeYellow gerbera on a lightbox © Julian KöpkeYellow gerbera on a lightbox © Julian KöpkeLarkspur in the open countryside © Julian KöpkeLarkspur in the open countryside © Julian KöpkeDelicate rose hips before autumn starts © Julian KöpkeDelicate rose hips before autumn starts © Julian KöpkeCornflowers © Julian KöpkeCornflowers © Julian KöpkeThree vetches © Julian KöpkeThree vetches © Julian KöpkeRed chrysanthemum and yellow gerbera © Julian KöpkeRed chrysanthemum and yellow gerbera © Julian KöpkeLady's slipper © Julian KöpkeLady's slipper © Julian KöpkeAstilbe blooming © Julian KöpkeAstilbe blooming © Julian KöpkeRose petals © Julian KöpkeRose petals © Julian KöpkeThe colors of a white amaryllis on lightbox © Julian KöpkeThe colors of a white amaryllis on lightbox © Julian KöpkeTwo white amaryllis © Julian KöpkeTwo white amaryllis © Julian Köpke -
Alstromeria
With daylight and a lightbox I took the cut off flower of an Alstromeria. With the lens I’m able to approach the bloom on approximately 20 cm. The blossom then fills almost the entire sensory. The ratio of the mapping is thus approximately 1:1.
The quality of the RAW images is convincing in itself. The creation of the finished HDR takes place in a combination of manual and automated steps.
RAW conversion is done using CaptureOne, HDR processing is done manually in Photoshop. Further, I generated two automated HDR developments using HDR Efex Pro 2 and Photomatix Pro 6 and layered them in. Some of the original color is transferred from the daylight image with the lightbox switched off.
Alstromeria (Peruvian lily) © Julian Köpke -
Lockdown flower shots
Our flower shops are sold out or closed. There’s nothing new to buy. Thank God. This allows me to take a closer look a t the seasonal flowers we have at home.
Photographing a white amaryllis against a white background I found particularly attractive in the last few days. Because it also contains many colors that you can bring out.
Concerning color a less courageous image is the left one, only shadows and some etheral green from inside the flower. Using Lab color mode and some ideas of my friend Harold Davis this image can get more pizzazz, as shown on the right hand side.
White amaryllis on lightbox © Julian Köpke 
The colors of a white amaryllis on lightbox © Julian Köpke The plant broke off and had to be placed in a vase, but there it developed surprisingly well and even quite symmetrically, giving me the impression of antennas that listen into space because they look similar tho those with which Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discovered the cosmic background radiation. A lightbox as background is easy to realize with a LED for the ceiling that you can get in any hardware store.
Floral symmetry with white amaryllis © Julian Köpke The blossoming red amaryllis has two sides, so I had the chance to photograph them both. In my eyes, one side resembled a dinosaur’s head and upper neck as it is about reach for food. Loosely based on an Arabic proverb: „If you see the dinosaur’s tongue, don’t think he’s smiling“.
Budding Amaryllis © Julian Köpke 
Budding Amaryllis © Julian Köpke -
Gift
It had take a long time until I had chosen a beautiful floral arrangement and d the florist had bound it presentably. I was just about to complete the purchase when I noticed a wonderful Gladiole.
„I’ll give it to you for free of charge, it has already fully blossomed“, said the owner. My thanks to her are the following pictures of this flower, which I made with my lightbox in the background.
Gladiola © Julian Köpke 
Gladiola © Julian Köpke 
Gladiola © Julian Köpke -
Artichoke
Melitta was looking for an image in her new kitchen. She felt a fusion image of a fruit basket to be too dark. The fusion image technique is not restricted to black and white or monochrome (FAQ: Fusion imaging). With only few structural content in the X-ray of the fruits I better inverted the background of the image and sponsored a golden backdrop like an ancient greek icon. You still can see some X-ray properties looking at the lychees or the bananas. As a print its appearance was best.
X-ray fusion photo of lychees and fruit in a wooden bowl © Julian Köpke Also appropriate for a kitchen would also be an image of an artichoke. If I put it on a lightbox, there is always some resemblance to a copperplate print, which I like personally. This blooming artichoke is a type of a food image, if you spend some phantasy.
Blooming artichoke © Julian Köpke A little change of perspective gives more direct access to the blooms. Every image shown in this blog entry is a combination of manual HDR and software assisted HDR. That way I get best results. The background helps to create the look and feel of ageing and simulating a print.
Blooming artichoke © Julian Köpke The artichoke presented above has some resemblance to a thistle. By chance we have a place not far from home with lots of them. Old railroad tracks had been removed and converted into bike trails nearby our house. So we went this morning by bike to get a thistle of the former track bed for an image.
Blooming thistle at the former railroad tracks © Julian Köpke As there is so much structure in these images, I felt tempted to convert my artichoke and thistle images into monochrome. To some extent they resemble images of Karl Blossfeldt.
Blooming artichoke © Julian Köpke 
Blooming thistle at the former railroad tracks © Julian Köpke -
Heucheria leaf on a light box
So often I tried to image a Heucheria leaf. It doesn’t seem complicated. With less saturation the impression of a water color image emerges of a single leaf.
Heucheria leaf © Julian Köpke Going on with my Blossfeldt studies I need a background for this image. An image with background exerts a special charm. A paper structure fits well.
Heucheria leaf © Julian Köpke Only the conversion to black and white comes closer to the impression of a Blossfeldt macro.
Heucheria leaf © Julian Köpke
