Pink Columbine

[Julie Kenward]

I finally made it out to Powell Gardens and the columbine were everywhere! I found this plant near a rock wall and the mid-morning light coming over the hill really set it off.

Canon 40D, EF 100mm f/2.8 macro
f3.2 @ 1/800th, ISO 200
Manual mode, pattern metering, handheld
Softened some elements in the BG using the paint brush at a low opacity and cloned out a few small imperfections. Did a lightened blend mode at the end to bring it all up to a softer look.

[Cheryl Flory]

I really like the depth the buds in the background give to this image, as well as the very soft and light look to it. The brightest parts of the blossom look a bit too bright to me on my monitor. But that could just be personal preference. Great background!

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Very nice flower, lovely colors and really like the soft look. I like it a lot!

[Anita Bower]

Lovely! Love the soft look. with the flower center in focus. Lovely light and colors.

[Hazel Grant]

love the softness of the whole effect. The yellow in the middle centers it. Great capture.

[Julie Brown]

Beautiful color and detail Jules. I really like the OOF parts of the flower, and the color transitions in the BG. It gives the flower an anchor and balances the composition.

[Barbara Kile]

Gorgeous lighting and superb selective focus. This is dreamy, soft and very pleasing to the eye.

[Ken Childs]

Nice and soft!
It's great as is but you could crop off the right 25% and have another great image. Not better, just different.

[Christopher Miller]

Lovely soft image, Jules! :) Perfect DOF and colors. Excellent composition too. Only thing I might change would be to blur the left bud a bit more to push it further back in space. Either way, it's one beautiful image!

[Bob Miller]

Hi Julie...This really works for me...a very dreamy feeling! I Like it alot. I do agree with Chris about blurring the left bud just a bit!

[Julie Kenward]

Here it is with the side bud blurred and the pink area to the lower right toned down a bit.

[Cheryl Flory]

I like the adjusted lower right pink better, but I like the first adjustment on the bud better. Hey, what can I say, I like buds. :) And with it being a bit more clear, then I don't struggle trying to figure out what I am seeing.

[denise ippolito]

Jules, This is a beautiful example of soft focus done right. Beautiful colors and feel. I love it.:)

[Julie Kenward]

Thanks so much Denise. I'm glad everyone liked it. It's one of my spring favorites so far.

[Christopher Miller]

Looks very nice with the bud blurred, Jules. :)