Inside a Wild Geranium

[Joanna Trescott]

Jules -- I did exactly what you suggested. Here is the result....it makes it easier if the "belly button" is defined.

[Julie Kenward]

Another nice one, Joanna. Try pulling the green area out towards all the corners and moving the white even further to the edges and see what that does. That green against the hot pink is awesome!

[Joanna Trescott]

Jules, do you mean to crop it down to the where the green starts? Also, how do I attach a repost of the picture -- I don't see "manage attachment" on this reply?

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Joanna,
I like your composition. The colors are simply beautifull. The green and pink hues go well with each other. I could not help myself; but I took the liberty in modifing you image just a wee bit. This is from my eye of capture; I hope you like...:D:cool:

[Joanna Trescott]

Gus: Thanks for your input...I think the left hand side is more interesting, but then the stamen is facing towards the right. I would like to post how I have cropped it, but don't know how to include it in this thread.

[Anita Rakestraw]

This is lovely, Joanna, and I prefer your version to Gus's this time (sorry, Gus!) To post another image in this thread, Joanna, open "go advanced" rather than using "post quick reply." That will give you both a place to write comments and to upload your image.

[Joanna Trescott]

Thanks Gus and Anita. I will try the advanced post.

[Arthur Morris]

The thumbnail caught my eye and I really love the image. I prefer the ORIG to Gus's crop, but I think that the best best would have been simply to point the camera just a bit to the right, about 1/2 inch on my 17 inch monitor. I see where Gus was going but he overdid it. Love the colors and the selective focus.

[Joanna Trescott]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Here is a crop -- too much?

[Dan Brown]

Hi Joanna. Very nice colors and exp! My interpretation of what everyone is trying to get across about the composition is for you to apply the "rule of thirds" to the image and put the central portion of the flower on the upper left intersection of the grid lines, which I have tried to illustrate with my posting of your image. I increased the canvas size, selected the center of the flower to protect it and then applied the "liquify" filter with a large brush size, pulled the flower way out, applied a grid and then cropped out the unneeded parts, leaving what is posted. I reduced the opacity of the grid lines quite a bit. This comp would have been possible when you were making the capture. My Nikon D200 has an option that puts this grid in the viewfinder for you to see.

Dan Brown

http://naturestoc.smugmug.com/

[Amy DeStefanis]

This is great. I like Dan's crop - because I like the "swirlies" on the right hand side of the picture, and I like the placement of the "belly button".

I'm going to have to try this. Great job!

Amy D.

[Joanna Trescott]

Dan: Thanks for your recrop and explanation. Getting back to what I originally was trying to acccomplish was Jules "belly button" procedure, where the stamen is in the center of the photo. I was not trying to accomplish rule of thirds. I do appreciate your explanation of extending the canvas and liquifying -- something I plan on experiemnting with.