Floral Flame

[Chris Starbuck]

Tickseed Coreopsis
mid-morning, direct sun, somewhat backlit
Canon 50D, Sigma 150 f/2.8 Macro, tripod, ISO 200, 1/320 @ f/8
WB tweak in ACR, noise reduction with Nik Dfine 2.0, contrast tweak & sharpening in PS CS4, minor (<10%) crop for composition

Comments & criticism always welcome!

[denise ippolito]

Chris, How have you been? I love the light on the petals and the BG compliments your flower very well. Sharp yet soft-Very nice. I would probably tone down the streak on the right.

[Chris Starbuck]

Hi Denise! Thanks for the comments. I tried to move all the dried grass stems out of the BG on-site, but missed one or two. I'll definitely go back and darken that a bit.

I've mostly been OK, just haven't been able to get out with my camera much. Fell and injured my shoulder in January, and it's taking a long time to heal. It's hard (but not impossible!) to manage a backpack, tripod, etc with one hand.

[denise ippolito]

Hi Denise! Thanks for the comments. I tried to move all the dried grass stems out of the BG on-site, but missed one or two. I'll definitely go back and darken that a bit.

I've mostly been OK, just haven't been able to get out with my camera much. Fell and injured my shoulder in January, and it's taking a long time to heal. It's hard (but not impossible!) to manage a backpack, tripod, etc with one hand.


Chris, That sounds awful!! Hope you have a full recovery soon! Love your work and look forward to more!!

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Chris

Sweet looking image Agree with Denise and might try bringing some faint detail under the flower !!! Good luck with the shoulder Hope you can carry the pack soon !!!!

[Julie Kenward]

Chris, I wondered where you'd been! I agree on the toning down of the streak. I do really like your placement in the frame.

[Chris Starbuck]

Hi Jules! Sorry for the long absence. I have been lurking now and then; just prefer not to critique much unless I have fresh images to share too.

I couldn't figure out a way to darken the right-side streak that actually made it any less noticable, so I ended up just blurring that area of the BG.

I also tried a shadows adjustment to bring out just a little detail under the flower (masked to just that area), as Al suggested, but I'm not sure I like the result - I think that bit of extra detail somehow makes the flame-like shape of the petals stand out less.