Blue Damsel and Pink Lotus

[LinzRiverBalmer]

Well this is a favorite of family and friends and I almost entered it in a contest this year, but it didn't quite fit any categories.

I would love some feedback on this one, Pro Photo Dad says it's perfect a favorite of his.

I keep thinking it needs a bit of work somewhere.

This was shot early morning, the light is all natural sunrise.

Handheld, macro, no flash.

PP, almost full frame, small crop, exposure correct on the damsel, contrast and brighten on the flower.

I find this photo to be very deep, both ladies, both existing and coming from the water, both on opposite ends of the color spectrum.

Camera and shot info.....

Canon Powershot SX 40

sorry on this one I don't have the data and the camera and card are with a friend.

I know it was macro and I was about a foot away from the subject.

[Mitch Haimov]

THis could be a very pleasing image without the Damsel (preferably with center of lotus sharp in that case). So the damsel puts it over the top. Nice light, texture, BG, well composed. I think this is my favorite of what I've seen of your work. Congrats!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Linz this is a tricky image to get the colours and exposure bang on - but you are not far off. I suspect that when you took the image it turned out a little underexposed due to the fact that the flower is so bright.(??) As a consequence I think the damsel is a little underexposed. The detail in the petals is very good indeed.

[Daniel Cadieux]

It's a creative image for sure, and I can see why it is a favorite of yours and your family's. I too think the damselfly is a tad dark, and there is a bit of refinement to do in the NR masking department (see outer edges of the petals). I'm digging your comp alot

[LinzRiverBalmer]

Thank you all very much, I want the thank you button back please..... where did it go???

Mitch, thanks for the confidence boost, much appreciated.

Jonathan, This one was tricky in the light as it was a fairly harsh sunrise in that I was down in oak creek canyon so the sun is fairly high by the time it reached the canyon floor.

I kept waiting for her to land on one of the darker lotus flowers, there were darker pink ones and orange-ish, would have been a better light exposure situation, but she just loved the Only almost white flower.

When I first took this a neighbor sent me a link with info about lotus flowers and damsel and dragon flies that in many cultures and folklore they are said to house souls of the past and also bring about new life.

That just added to my intrigue that I often see Damsels and Dragons on Lotus flowers.

Daniel, me being new would you mind elaborating on what you mean by refining the NR masking??? I haven't used any NR on this image, in LR I did take the brush and just burned down the BG a bit near and above the Damsel, with the brush just a bit of burning and also reduced clarity about 10 points just above her as the BG lilly pad right there was fairly bright green, it caught the light.
I applied the 'low" output sharpen in LR5, no masking.........don't really know how yet.

Maybe I should have left off the sharpen??

So the whole damsel is a little dark, I will go make some adjustments, are you seeing this by way of the blacks in the damsel??

sorry so many questions, trying to learn everything I can.

[LinzRiverBalmer]

here is a RP

I tried to fix the NR I think Danial was talking about.

Bumped the exposure up, and then muted the whites.

Didn't touch the damsel, all I tried to make lighter made her look funny. I'm probably doing something incorrectly.

Any Better??

[Jonathan Ashton]

Take a careful look at the edges of the petals, there are halos there. The damsel is suffering, it is underexposed. I think go back to raw file, take a look at the default settings, then slowly do one thing at a time. You could for example process the raw for the flower then save as a Tiff. Then go back to the raw file again, then process for the damsel, launch as Tiff, place one image on top of the other and then carefully erase the damsel so you have a brighter damsel on a well exposed flower. Now regards sharpening I would use a lot less than you did, there are several threads in the forums giving tips. If I can be of further help send me a PM. I suspect this is not an easy image to get just right!!

[LinzRiverBalmer]

thanks Jonathan, yup I don't like my own RP..... LOL

I don't have a RAW file, my cameras aren't capable. However I'm more than happy to send you the original through email if you'd like a look at it. Just send me a message, and thank you for your offer to help.

I could use all the help I can get. In the middle of my normal health issues I also have camera and computer issues so I'm learning 10 new things at once.

I've only been using LR for a little over a month now, off of 1 three hour session with a friend, so I'm not well trained.... yet

I have PS elements 12 and LR5 on a large screen Windows 8 HP with a special graphics processor.

Steve is helping me too, but my focus for the last few years has mostly been Macro, I'm a macro nut, and I suffer is PP, or I should say my photos suffer in PP from my treatment.