Seeing red: sun vs shade

[penolta]

Reds in shade are easier to handle than those in full sun. Fill flash in shade can add sun-like oversaturation, but to a lesser degree..

1a Open Shade




1b Shade with flash




2 Shade with flash




3 Bright sun

[selvin]

You've certainly made a great case for shooting reds in the shade.
The first shot is wonderful perfectly exemplifies the case you're trying to make.

[Tullio]

That goes along with my suggestion (on another post) that part of the problem has to do with how red reflects light.

Now, the center of that last rose looks funny. Is that the original color or the result of heavy PP'ing?

[penolta]

Originally Posted by Tullio

That goes along with my suggestion (on another post) that part of the problem has to do with how red reflects light.

Now, the center of that last rose looks funny. Is that the original color or the result of heavy PP'ing?

It is not processing, nor how red reflects light, but how it fails to reflect the red wavelengths completely in that particular region of the flower. I don't know why, but I can only guess. I have gotten that in any number of photos of red roses taken in the sun - those petals are the last to open and it may be possible that the red pigments are not yet fully formed and allow some blue/violet wavelengths to be reflected from or through them. It is not obvious to the naked eye in the bright sunlight. You can see a hint of that in the flowers in photos 1b and 2 taken in the shade with daylight balanced fill flash. Then too, the camera's sensor may be more sensitive to those wavelengths than is the human eye - remember that many flowers reflect wavelengths beyond the spectral response of the human retina, in this case into the ultraviolet, but well within the range of the eyes of pollinating insects, which are attracted to and directed to the nectaries of the flower so that they can accomplish pollination. Harriet (mtngal) has experimented with infrared beyond the other end of the visible spectrum and found that some sensors are more sensitive in that range than others that have better IR protective masking.

[vsch1]

Great examples of what works and what doesnt.

[MartinSykes]

Originally Posted by penolta

...I don't know why, but I can only guess. I have gotten that in any number of photos of red roses taken in the sun - those petals are the last to open and it may be possible that the red pigments are not yet fully formed and allow some blue/violet wavelengths to be reflected from or through them...

It's something to do with the fact that insect's eyes work at different wavelengths. I think if you google a bit you'll find interesting pictures of flowers as insects see them. Lots which look plain colours to us actually have hidden patterns.