Two bees on flower

[Julie Brown]

I originally custom cropped this vertically in LR to show more of the stem diagonally from the left corner. This crop is the only way I could get the image to conform to the 1024 X 800 for posting. Every time I set the dimensions in LR, they change in export. It is a lot of trial and error.

Usual workflow: exposure adjustment: set black and white points; adjust clarity and vibrance; slight tone curve tweaking; sharpening; NR; slight HSL adjustments; post-crop vignette

Canon 40D; 300mm f4L IS; f4.0; 1/640 sec; ISO 250; HH

This was shot in a meadow along the park road at Lac Luitel near Chamrousse in the French Alps, July 2009

[Aidan Briggs]

Hi Julie. Welcome to BPN!! The image doesn't have to be 1024 x 800. It can be less than that.

I like the the fact that both bees are sharp and in the same plane of focus. I do wish both bees were facing you. I also like the nice green BG and sharpness. You might try toning down the flower a little bit, it is a little on the bright side.

I am looking forward to more images from you!!

[Mike Moats]

Hey Julie, I really like the comp with seeing both side of the bees. Agree with Aidan that the flower looks really bright but I'm on my laptop so it could be my monitor. Good details on the bee and good BG.

[Julie Brown]

Thanks Aidan and Mike. I'm not quite sure how to bring down the brightness of the flower. The histogram is not clipping to the right. Should I do this with the highlight slider in the tone curve or use the adjustment brush (which I am not really very good with yet)?

[Julie Kenward]

Julie I sent you a private message (PM) to help you with the resizing issue. I also agree that the flower is a bit bright. I'd probably use the clone brush set at 20-30% and DARKEN. Grab the purple color on the darker petal and paint over the too bright area with the clone brush. It will leave a slightly darker purple color over the top of the highly white area, bringing it down in brightness.

If you are new to Photoshop and BPN then check out the educational forums when you have time. There are TONS of great tutorials and questions and answers that concern Photoshop and photography in general.

I also really like the diagonal lines of the flower in the frame. You have good details on the bees and with the sizing adjustment I sent to you I think they'd look even better.

[Vida van der Walt]

Hi Julie. This is a beautiful image and I love those fuzzy little bees. Great detail, colours and bg and ditto on both the front and back view of the bees. Agree with toning down the flower.:)

[Julie Brown]

Thanks Jules and Vida for the additional comments. I will try making the adjustments suggested in both Lightroom and Elements and repost the image if I get decent results. I will also check out the tutorials!

[Anita Bower]

Welcome!

I like the angle of the flower, the blurred background, the popping colors, the focus on the flower and bees. Nice details. The bright flower doesn't bother me, but I look forward to seeing a repost, if you do one.

Look forward to more of your images! :)

[Julie Brown]

Here is the repost with my original vertical crop in Lightroom. I tried to bring down the brightness of the flower with the adjustment brush. Not sure how well that went.:)

Thanks to you all for the comments. I am learning a lot from this process, and it is fun!

[Anita Bower]

Although I thought the original flower looked fine, what I notice about the toned down flower image is that the bees become the focal points, with the flower playing a supporting role. :)

[Julie Brown]

Thanks Anita, that is really helpful. I will keep all of these suggestions in mind for future capture and processing.