How is this background done?

Hi all,

I have enjoyed reading all the posts speculating how I shot the flower with the dark background. As you might guess, I'm the photographer.

Here is the original shot:

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

I almost deleted it actually. I shot it in bright sunlight, stopped down at a wide aperature (f/2.8 maybe). I then edited the resulting image in Photoshop. The effect of the black background was achieved by tweaking levels and curves, then using the burn tool to knock out any remaining light spots. It's been a long time since I created that image, so I might be leaving something out. I hope this helps.

Thank you Randy for inviting me to this discussion.

Kurt Schlatzer
www.kurtschlatzer.com
www.flickr.com/photos/​schlatzer