To create this image of a Star Magnolia, I brought some branches into my studio and arranged them on my lightbox. I shot the images in three panels using HDR and Photoshop layer blending. Each set of bracketed exposures was biased towards the right on the exposure histogram, so I created a translucent effect in the petals.

The horizontal panorama effect was created by stitching together the three panels in Photoshop. Since I had been careful about alignment when I shot the images, this didn’t involve too much work—but the results are a high resolution file, capable of quality printing in very large sizes.

Speaking of printing, yesterday we made a test print of this image on Moab Paper Moenkopi Washi Unryu 55. This Japanese rice paper was created for use in high-end inkjet printers. The paper is embedded with very visible long Mulberry fibers, sometimes called “Dragon’s Breath.” The combination of this unusual printing substrate with my Star Magnolia Panorama is quite striking.