Common crocus

[thijs broekkamp]

For me this the sign of the spring. Saw a whole group in the forest.
Canon 30d with canon 300mm f4 with kenko 1,4.
f6.3
1/250e iso 100

http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae54/thijsbroekkamp/_MG_8619bwrktsrgb.jpg

[Mike Moats]

Hey thijs, very nice comp, love the BG and colors, good details. I would clone that little green thing in the lower right corner, and weird looking thing at the base of the flower stem on the right. Very well done.

[Julie Kenward]

Spring is here if the crocus are up! Lovely opening image, Thijs. Here are a few suggestions for improvement.

I went with more of a square crop because there was nothing much going on on the left side. Ideally, I would have liked for their to be a bit more room on the right; if that had been the case I would have cropped fairly close on the left side and left the plant more to the 1/3 position and let the right side be open.

Also, I lightened up a few of the darker areas. There are a couple of ways to do this...I used the clone stamp at 20% opacity and set to "lighten" and used the soft areas next to the dark one to soften them up a bit. I then created a new layer and switched it to screen mode and lowered the opacity of that layer until it was light and airy.

I also added a violet photo filter adjustment layer set to 25% to give everything a soft violet tone - it really gave the crocus a nice little pop.

These are just suggestions - it's your image and your vision - but wanted to share them in case any of them sound interesting to you.

(Also, you might want to check out the posting guidelines at the top of the forum. You had your image set at 2"x3" and something like 2000 resolution. You only need a resolution of 72 for the web so try an 8x10" or 7x10" at 72 resolution next time and it should easily fit in the 200kb.)

[Desmond Chan]

I think the original is simply beautiful to begin with, both the flower and the background. Julie's re-post improves and Mike has given good suggestions. I do find the empty space in the background is a bit too much in the original. Still, I really like the background and so kind of sad to see some of it is gone in Julie's :)

[Anita Bower]

i like both versions. i like the adjustments jules made, but would prefer the larger crop of the original. in original crop, in addition to mike's suggestions, i would clone out the dark vertcal on right side. well done. how did you get down tha low?

[Anita Bower]

[quote=

I also added a violet photo filter adjustment layer set to 25% to give everything a soft violet tone - it really gave the crocus a nice little pop.
quote]

jules--what is a violet photo filter adjustment?

anita

[Julie Kenward]

There's a photo filter adjustment layer in Photoshop and you can choose a color and amount. I chose "violet" and 25% (the default setting.)

[Ken Childs]

I like the original and Jules' repost is even better. The focus is sharp right where it needs to be.

[Anita Bower]

There's a photo filter adjustment layer in Photoshop and you can choose a color and amount. I chose "violet" and 25% (the default setting.)

it does not exist inps7, but i found it in elements 7. many thanks. :)

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Thijs,
I think Julie's repost is the direction to go.....it adresses some small but important issues and gives the image it's final tweaks!

[thijs broekkamp]

Thanks for the comments! I lay down on my belly to get this low. The repost is indeed better, i certainly going to lighten up the dark spot! I also prefered to have more space on the right but there was a other flower.

[Anita Bower]

Thanks for the comments! I lay down on my belly to get this low. The repost is indeed better, i certainly going to lighten up the dark spot! I also prefered to have more space on the right but there was a other flower.

you must have been in the mud. good job.

[Cindy Mead]

lovely harmonious colors and your dof works well here thijs- I like the crop in your first image and the lighter tones in the second :)

[Vida van der Walt]

Lovely image Thijs. The repost by Jules is even better. Love the softness and colours in this.

[thijs broekkamp]

Thanks for the comments. I can't get the darker area lightened up the way Julie described it. Can you describe another way?