Queen Anne's Lace with Snow

[Anita Bower]

We got some flurries yesterday. I ran out and took a few photos before the snow blew away. Not as sharp as I would have liked. I used a 12" circular diffuser for the first time.

Konica-Minolta 5D, 100mm macro, f9, 1/160, WB Daylight, ISO 200, tripod, manual focus, manual metering.

[Anita Bower]

I forgot to sharpen the first image. Here is a sharpened version.:o

[Julie Kenward]

The sharpening definitely helps bring the details of the QAL into focus more. I love that the snow is sitting in the cup - it really adds depth to the image.

The BG is a tiny bit busy - consider blurring it a big more or even lightening the darker areas to make it a little less distracting. It's not bad for f9 aperture but I think you could easily soften it more and come away with a really great print.

Hope you enjoyed the snow!

[Anita Bower]

Jules:

Thanks for your critique. I lightened the BG using Dodge. (I don't know how else to do it.) What do you think?

[Ed Vatza]

Good morning Anita.

I like where you were headed with this image. There is not a whole lot of color out there these days. I think the third image looks best. But I do agree with Jules about going softer on this one. The background is just on the cusp of that wonderful marbled look but just not quite there yet.

[Anita Bower]

I appreciate the feedback, but have a question: What does "going softer" mean? I could use a wider open aperture if I took another picture. But, is there a way to make this one softer?

[Julie Kenward]

Anita, there are many ways to get a softer look in pp. In camera, yes, you need to use a wider aperture. In pp, though, you can often soften the look by doing a duplicate layer (Ctrl +J) and then changing the blend mode from normal to "screen". Adjust the opacity down until you have it where you like it. Add a quick mask and paint the flower area back in so it shows up nice and strong again.

Another thing is to use the lasso tool to loosely select the flower then inverse the selection. Use the filter/blur/gaussian blur tool to fuzz out the BG a bit.

Another option is to set the clone tool to lighten and 30-40% opacity and then set the clone stamp in one of the lighter areas and paint over the darker areas. This will even out the BG dark spots a bit.

Let me know if you have any questions...I can explain in more detail if you PM me.

[Gordon Craig]

This is a very nice composition. I have seen these types of plants before in Winter and it gives me some ideas. Also, every single thread here has been a valuable piece of information.