Balinese Villa, Pool Dog and Lotus

[Don Ellis]

I've been away...and I thought I'd show you where.

This is the roof of my villa outside Ubud, in the Central highlands of Bali, taken from the pool.

http://www.kleptography.com/dl/balivilla.jpg

I've left the false color in this infrared shot because it helps separate the greenery from the clouds.

Taken with a Canon G1, Hoya R72 IR filter. ISO 50, 1/8 sec., f2.0. I used a custom white balance, auto-leveled, and sharpened.

Don

[Rudi]

Good one, Don! Now I've got to go out and buy more equipment!

Let's see... Hoya R72 filter, plane tickets to Bali... :)

[gandini]

Don:
Great photo! Is the pool shaped like the lid of a grand piano by coincidence, I wonder? Mmm, now let me think, black, shiny, ... perhaps not.
As for Rudi's comment, all *I* need are the tickets to Bali...

cheers,

[Don Ellis]

Thanks very much for your comments.

I think both of you should go to Bali and take someone with you...you'll certainly fall in love with the island and probably the person you're with (possibly all over again).

If the pool looks like a grand piano, it's because it's shaped like the paddy field it replaces (which follows the contours of the hillside it's terraced on).

Here's another picture taken to the left of the same position as the original photo. Dalmations are the perfect infrared dog -- they make it easy to set the black and white points.

http://www.kleptography.com/dl/balipooldog.jpg

Now call your travel agent -- and then email me and I'll tell you a couple of great places to stay in the US$70-250 range.

Cheers.

Don

[Leighow]

DON:

Beautiful photo. I would love to see the color version.. or one of your people shots of brightly colored clothing.

Doubt that I will make it to Bali... Hawaii was as "close" as I got re tropical.

HOWIE

[Don Ellis]

Hi Howie,

You'll have to wait for fancy dress (and when it happens, it will be on the traditional Balinese dolls I photographed). In the meantime, for a spot of color, here's a lotus...

http://www.kleptography.com/dl/lotus3.jpg

Don

[Leighow]

DON

Gasp ... that is simply gorgeous... the natural light is unbelieveable . Thank you so much.. you must be thrilled with that shot.

HOWIE (Ottawa, Canada)

[Don Ellis]

Leighow wrote:
DON

Gasp ... that is simply gorgeous... the natural light is unbelieveable . Thank you so much.. you must be thrilled with that shot.

HOWIE (Ottawa, Canada)

Hi Howie,

Thanks and you're right. I took enough shots over ten days that something was bound to work, but, yes, I was very pleased when I saw this.

The lotus is rather ephemeral, running through its life cycle in just a few days -- and half of the flowers were out of reach in the middle of ponds.

The shot above was early morning. This shot is early evening, just before closing up for the night. And it's a different flower...

http://www.kleptography.com/dl/lotus7.jpg

Don

[Eric F.]

Don,

I really enjoy your pictures. Thank you for posting.

Would you share the set up on this last shot? lighting? was a background card used?

Thanks, and please continue your posts. :)

[Don Ellis]

Hi Eric,

Thanks for your comments. Details are ISO50, 1/640th of a second, f5.6, low saturation and contrast. It was shot down on a dark pond -- no background card -- but there was some slight debris on three edges that I removed in Photoshop using a black paintbrush. Natural light. It was shot at 4:30pm, with sunset about 6pm.

Someone in one of the forums said that all photographers take pictures of flowers -- they just don't admit it. I finally found a flower worth shooting. At some point, I'll put up a small lotus gallery on my website. Beauty is seldom as fleeting as it is with the lotus.

Don

[gandini]

These are great photos, Don. There's no doubt that even a year on, you continue to present us with the best in digital photography. For all those lusting after a D-60 or whatever's around the corner at the next press release, my advice is spend some time looking at Don's G1 and G2 images, and aspire to the levels of vision, composition, and processing that he offers up to us continuously.
I just sit at my monitor and my eyes relish the softness of the petals, the depth of the background, the wonderful detail in the shadows and the lushness of the color, all presented so well! It's true, *all* photographers take photos of flowers, most are embarassed to admit it, others rarely show them off. Perhaps they are just a personal visual feast, with the ever-present challenge of making something a little different from everyone else.

cheers,

[Don Ellis]

Hi Philip,

While praise is always welcome, praise from someone with your critical eye is especially appreciated. The pleasures of posting on Pekka's forum are the people who make this an oasis of knowledge, care and consideration. Thank you for your generous comments -- I'm glad you're enjoying the images.

You're right about flower photography -- the challenge is to create a picture that's different from thousands of others. That's the reason I've only ever had one token flower in my galleries. This time I had the luxury of being able to take 300 lotus pictures over nine days in Bali. They're rather irresistible.

After the two- or three-day lifespan of the flower, the petals fall off, leaving the yellow center cone which turns green and enlarges to about four times its size. The raised studs develop into marble-sized seeds within each of the cavities. When the dying stem can no longer support the swollen, seed-laden head, it tips over, spilling the seeds into the water where they grow into new flowers.

The flower is so large that the only time I used a Hoya +10 was to take a close-up picture of the seeds.

Best regards,

Don

http://www.kleptography.com/dl/lotusseeds.jpg

[Sheila]

[quote]Don Ellis wrote:
I've been away...and I thought I'd show you where.

This is the roof of my villa outside Ubud, in the Central highlands of Bali, taken from the pool.

Nice shot Don. I was in Ubud way back in 1975 (just passing through on the overland trip to the UK). Its a beautiful spot and you've captured it well.

Cheers
Sheila