Hi Chris,

What fascinates me is how you got the background so perfectly black! From the fine hairs visible on the stem I'm guessing that you did not cut out the background in post processing. Did you use some kind of backdrop behind the flower? Even then you must have done some pp to get rid of dust specs, etc.

Regards,
Stefan

I did use a black velvetine backdrop. Prior to setting it up I made sure it was free of lint and hairs that may appear in the photos using a lint brush. I positioned the backdrop sufficiently far enough away from the flowers to both ensure the amount of light falling on the backdrop was significantly lower than on the flowers and ensure that if in fact I did have any sort dust on the backdrop, it would be out of focus. At the same time, I used the lid from the light box to block light falling on to the background. Finally, I processed the RAW file with 3/10 stop underexposure, not to create a blacker background but to tone down the bright red of the gerbera.

Placement of the backdrop in relation to the light source and subject is a use of the inverse square law. I will explain more about this in one of my future digital photography tips (http://potd.chrismpey.com/tips).