Poppies

[Ian Cassell]

Canon 7D
Sigma 100-300mm f/4 @ 300mm
1/640sec @ f/8 ISO 400

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Ian,
Well....you have a lot going on in this image. I think the backlighting on the poppy bud is great but it has too much competition in the frame. The poppy bloom itself looks washed out on the reds and the other OOF buds and blooms compete too much witht the 1 sharp one. If you are able to in the field.....carry old spring loaded clothespins or a plamp to get unwanted elements out of the way...even most gardens don't mind that as long as you don't damage the blooms. Just too much going on in the scene to make this one work for my tastes.....lets see what others chime in.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks, Roman. I like that clothspin idea -- I'd never heard of that one and can think of many times it would come in handy. I just dropped a couple into my camera bag!

[Desmond Chan]

I like the rim light, but feel the red could be toned down a bit though. Good suggestions from Roman!

[Julie Kenward]

I agree with Roman, Ian. If this were just the one bud and one bloom and the reds were under control I think this would be a stunning image! The backlighting adds great drama and it really stands out against that black BG. I think you could still salvage this by painting over everything else and going vertical with the image, then toning down those hot reds.

[Ken Childs]

I agree with the previous comments. I'd really like to see a shot of just the 1 larger bud. The backlighting looks great on that bud!

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks for comments, all.

Here is a tighter crop.

[Bob Miller]

HI Ian....nice try with the backlighting...but I agree just too much going on....think simple...when composing

[Stuart Frohm]

Here's a quickly executed version intended to convey my message that removing (blackening out) some background elements and what was at lower right, plus a bit of cropping from the top and right, might help convey the beauty of the original scene.
I don't object to the suggestion that the red be toned down; I merely did not attempt it.
Thanks very much for posting the original.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks for the edit, Stuart. I agree that removing those elements has made a big difference. I'm still a relative neophyte with PS, so I tend to shy away from this sort of thing, but I have to work on those skills.