Theme: Tree Blur

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Took this last year. Just a simple shot. I reduced the clarity to -100. and did some tonal adjustments, cloned out a few things around the edge. I thought the edge of the most prominent tree was able to give it enough sharpness to carry the blur of the image.

[Nancy Bell]

Lovely soft blur and lovely soft colors! The tree anchors the image very nicely, as well as continues the vertical elements of the flowers. I really like the effect of greatly reducing the clarity to create a soft mood like this.

[Paul Lagasi]

Well thought out image, just doesn't work for me. I can't explain why. :tinysmile_shy_t:

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Jackie,

Greetings. Like Paul there was something that didn't work for me. I think the whitish trunk appears in front, when it is better further back. I color matched the shaded trunks in the back for a solid fill layer, then masked and painted in variable overlay blend (painted grays on the mask with soft brushes).

142412

The general idea, anyway.

I like the yellow accents in the OP. I think the darker trunk brings them to the fore. Thanks for posting.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Kerry Perkins]

An interesting image and good concept Jackie and I think Michael is on to something with his repost. It's amazing how that little change alters the feel of the image. I like how it pushed the tree back in the image and I think it helped.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Room for improvement here, blurs have never been my forte. I like the darkening as it gives the image more depth.

[Diane Miller]

Very nice -- and the yellow flowers are a lovely touch.

When I shoot pan blurs I usually wind up with vertical elements skewed at an angle, and I'm often happier with the image if I straighten them.

I'd be interested in seeing this image before the negative clarity. I find some of the blur effects in Nik's Color Efex Pro work well with blurs, such as Duplex and Classical Soft Focus, although the latter is usually too subtle. And Glamour Glow is a standby for me.

I love to combine two or three blurs shot at the same time but slightly different. Put the top layers in a bland mode (often Overlay or Soft Light is best) and move, distort and mask to taste.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hi, Jackie, I like the use of negative clarity and I like the image as well as Michael's repost.:S3:

[Anita Bower]

I'm not a blur person, but, I like the OP! I think the tree trunk framed by the green plants and the yellow flowers make a lovely image. I like Gerald's version as well, but I didn't think the OP needed improving.