The Missouri Botanical Gardens Orchid Show
The Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, MO was built in 1859, and for the past 150 or so years has been presenting the most magnificent floral exhibits.
Last year I photographed the Orchid Show in Infrared for a Blog story here. This year, I was given exclusive access to the show the day before it opens.
I photographed the Orchid Show this morning (02/05/16) in Infrared, and processed the images for this Blog.
It was a blast.
There is nearly every type of Orchid you can think of, or so it seemed to me.
The show is in an indoor facility, but I shot it the same way I would shoot foliage on location. The first thing I did was was find a large leaf and take a bracketed set of images for a custom White Balance.
In this case I selected the last image.
Then I went with my standard old faithful lens, the 50mm f1.8
Since I had the place all to myself, I could set up a tripod go with longer exposures rather than upping the ISO.
The textures in the petals really pop in Infrared.
I really like Orchids, but they do look a little like they could eat you at any moment.
As a side note, because of building being lit by skylights, the lighting did change in the short time I was there. As a result I ended up doing a custom White Balance two more times before I finished.
In post production, I did channel swap the Red and Blue color channels, and for the most part removed the Blue and Cyan tones.
I also went into Selective Color and increased the Black to try and add some drama to the images.
This incredible show was made possible by the hard work of Pat Scace, and her team.
They did an amazing job.
Before I left today, I ask Pat which of the Orchids was her favorite. She said she loved them all, but this one was her favorite.
Isn’t it wild?
Thank you Pat for letting me capture your beautiful exhibit.
If you are anywhere close to St. Louis, MO starting tomorrow 02/06/16 and running thru 03/27/16 you really should consider visiting and shooting this exhibit.
For more information regarding the 2016 Orchid Show click here
For info on the Missouri Botanical Gardens, click here.
Oh, and these images are also part of a story about the Orchid Show running in The Riverfront Times. You can see that story here.
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Dan Wampler
Dan Wampler is a digital artist from St Louis, MO. Having been interested in art and photography since childhood, he spent most of adult life working for Kodak and in the portrait photography industry. A student of the works of Ansel Adams, Any Warhol, and David Hamilton, Dan attempted to keep a wide range of artistic style.
As an early adopter of digital imaging, he found it gave him a way to completely incorporate art and photography. Began shooting Digital Infrared in 2004, and had first camera converted in 2006. His work has been seen in numerous gallery shows, is featured in an iTunes app. He produces Infrared and natural color digital art for sale and teaches his post-production techniques online.
Dan is LifePixel's Creative Director, social media manager, lead blog author, main workshops and training sessions instructor. His images appear in this gallery and throughout the website.
If you have a topic suggestion or request feel free to shoot him an email at danwampler@lifepixel.com
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You mentioned that you had to change your custom white balance two more times because of the changing light from the skylights. I thought once you custom calibrated your camera after conversion that you did not have to do it again. Does one have to do a custom white balance shooting in different locations and with changing lights each time? Can you explain further? What is it that determines when to change……your histogram? Your floral images are quite beautiful and breathtaking and encourages me to photograph more in infrared.
Hi Henriette, Thanks for the positive feedback.
A custom White Balance is something that you want to do for each lighting scenario you shoot in.
We have several pieces on White Balance you may find useful.
https://www.lifepixel.com/blog/white-balance-white-balance
https://www.lifepixel.com/blog/white-balance-isnt-important
https://www.lifepixel.com/blog/getting-started-basics-white-balance-shooting-raw
Do you focus stack? If not, is your lens calibrated to your IR camera so you can focus through the lens or do you utilize Live View? I attempted to photograph orchids yesterday at the Baltimore Botanical Gardens, using Nikon D7100 converted to 720 nm. I have an 18-200 lens calibrated by Lifepixels to the camera. I had a hard time seeing the clarity with Live View on a tripod. Curious for your thoughts and thank you for sharing your beautiful, inspiring work
Hi Robert,
Thanks for the positive feedback. I do not focus stack. I am shooting with a Canon 7DMKII that has been calibrated to the Canon 50mm f1.8 Lens, the nifty-fifty. I use it and many other lenses with my camera. I know many people use Live View with great results, but I do not personally use it.
Dan,
These are terrific. I’ve been meaning to go to The Sunken Gardens here in St. Petersburg, FL with my D300 IR Conversion. Now I’m going to make it a priority.
Thanks for the inspiration.
These are quite spectacular.
I enjoy shooting flowers, but haven’t gotten around to doing this with my infrared conversion camera.
I’m a street and architecture photographer, so I rarely shoot macro. And I’m not one to attend botanical shows. But your photos are stunning. Beautiful work! You’ve convinced me to take my infrared camera this coming spring to the Booklyn Botanical Garden, for their annual show. Thanks!
Hello, Dan Wampler.
My Canon 450d camera was converted by LifePixel to SUPERCOLOR. I received with the WB already customized. I never changed. You do me a step by step how to do this when I change my environment?
Francisco, Here are couple of out blogs on WB https://www.lifepixel.com/blog/white-balance-white-balance
https://www.lifepixel.com/blog/white-balance-isnt-important
These pictures are really amazing. I will try give this a try.
Dan, Very much enjoyed your work, and your explaining your techniques.