Blue Poppy from Behind

[Anita Bower]

From Longwood Gardens Conservatory. The flowers were planted with widows behind them, causing many to turn away from the viewer and towards the light. I thought the backs were as beautiful as the fronts.

I took two photos at different apertures and superimposed one on top of the other. This allowed me to get detail in the flower with a more blurred background. I brought out more detail with Topaz Detail. Applied two textures by Joel Olives.

[Dennis Bishop]

That was a clever approach to a blurred background, Anita. I agree with you that flowers can be just as beautiful from the back. It's a whole different feeling -- kind of like looking over their shoulders.

I very much like how the stem fades into the background. There's a rather abrupt change in the appearance of the stem at the bottom of the petal. Maybe because of a masked texture??? Would using a soft brush soften the transition?

[Anita Bower]

There's a rather abrupt change in the appearance of the stem at the bottom of the petal. Maybe because of a masked texture??? Would using a soft brush soften the transition?
Thanks Dennis. I didn't notice the stem. You are right.

[Nick Palmieri]

Very nice job with this one Anita. I really like the BG and the colors. I was absolutely mesmerized with these poppies at Longwood. I even blogged about them last week, check out my blog post.

[Anita Bower]

Thanks, Nick. Very nice photos of the poppies on your blog.

[Paul Lagasi]

I now can't wait to see flowers, its been staying fairly cold in the north....I like this series on poppies, I like the details and textures of the top 3/4 of the image but might be tempted to crop a bit from the bottom....nice work

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hi, Anita, I love the fact that they are facing the light. Lovely image. I especially like the soft edges of the poppy fading into the soft background.:S3:

[Anita Bower]

Thank you, Paul and Cheryl, for your comments.

[Mark Fuge]

Nice image and application, Anita.

Like the BG and the colors. The detail is really nice on this.

[Anita Bower]

Thanks, Mark.

[Bob Miller]

Anita...Well Done! This image is lovely! I wouldn't change a thing! The textures and the petals fading into the bg are done with skill/ Congrats!