Violet Reflections...

[Paul Pagano]

Taken during a walk through the Jacksonville Zoo. These African Water Lilies are part of the gardens there and are not native to Florida.
Canon 30D
Canon EF400 f/5.6L
Kenko 1,5x TC
ISO 400 Manual w/Manual Focus @ f/8
Tripod
Slight crop for presentation and processed in LR 2.0

[Bruce Murden]

Sweet shot and nice reflection. The colors are wonderful. I would suggest a little more breathing space between the rightmost petal and the frame -- just a bit -- and I'd clean up the little spots on some of the petals (if that is within your own limits for modifications).

Lovely overall!

[Mike Moats]

Hey Paul, a great comp and the reflection really adds a nice touch. Agree with Bruce on a little more space on the right as the petal touches the edge of the frame. The color of the petals on the left side look a little over exposed and lost some color, but it could be my monitor, we'll see if others mention it.

[Amy DeStefanis]

HI Paul,

This is beautiful. I agree about having a little more space, but I also like it as posted.

I'm not sure if the color is washed out, or if it just looks that way because the petal colors in the reflection appear to be more saturated, and, by comparison, the flower itself seems less so.... My monitor isn't calibrated, so I'll sit on the fence on that one...

Great image.

Amy D.

[Paul Pagano]

Thanks everyone! Good suggestions abound. I could possibly clean up that one leaf. The original image was tight on the right and when I added the presentation border, it got even tighter. The lighter leaf (top right) is probably a bit sunwashed-shot was taken around 3pm in high sun. I recovered it as best I could. Exposing for that would have rendered all else underexposed--but now LR 2.0 lets you brush in localized exposure. I went back and did a little more work.

[Mike Moats]

Hey Paul, carry a diffuser with you and shade the subject from the sun, it will help with the hot spots.

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Firstly, its a very beautiful image Paul.
But am not sure if I understand the image correctly. Is that the reflection in water of the lily ?
How did u manage to get such a still reflection amongst flowing/rippled water...?
Was the reflection photoshopped ?
Just curious...
Thanks.

[Paul Pagano]

Hi Kaushik,

Yes, the reflection of the actual flower is the lower image in the water. This was all in camera. The only post processing I did was an adjustment to saturation, color, and local exposure (on one leaf) in LR 2.0; a tiny bit of cloning on one leaf to hide some spots and imperfections, and the border (done in MS Digital Image). Not sure how the reflection was so nice but this pond is somewhat small and there is no running water-the ripples were quite light.

[Aristotle Georgiou]

Beautiful work! the reflection is what does it for me.

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Its absolutely splendid Paul !