LotusScape

[Judy Howle]

Fantasy lotus leaf. PB, Topaz Adjust twice, some minor fixes.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Judy, you have a very interesting and different look going on here. It seems both abstract and familiar, which I like. I can make a face out of the flower, but that may just be me... :cool: I was undecided about the ripples around the pad, but now I think I like them. :cool:

[Judy Howle]

Thanks Kerry! That's one thing I don't like about PB, all the ripples in water and texture in skies. (If you were referring to the little swirly ripples.) I painted over the water with blue to tone them down and darken them. I cloned out part of another colorful pad/leaf in LRC.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Judy:I appreciate you more or less introducing me to PB here at OOTB. Something about Pixel Bender and several other similar plugins like Topaz Clean; these filters perform a specific effect on details, but if they don't find much detail they create a sort of default pattern; the swirls in PB for example. One solution would be to give PB some detail to work on in low detail areas by borrowing details from another image, or simply reduce the detail to zero in areas you don't want effected. I am partial to the history brush in restoring back to the base image parts you don't want effected.
Back to your image here; very cool. I would increase the foreground blue area considerably, possibly using the rule of thirds making it the bottom 1/3 of the composition.
regards~Bill

[Mark Fuge]

Nice image and application, Judy.

I tend to agree with Kerry on the ripples. I didn't like them upon opening the image, but think they add to it now that I've seen it a couple of times. Nice colors as well! ;) :D

[Judy Howle]

Thanks William. Yes I could use a layer mask or history brush to reveal the underlying image, good suggestion. I'll try it next time.

I couldn't do what you suggested without a lot of work, possibly very hard to do, as there were so many other lotus leaves and pads surrounding this one. I did clone out a small one in the corner. They are rarely "alone" :( And due to the shape I'm not sure it would look right just in one corner of the image. Nothing wrong with breaking the rules if it works, and to me it works with the type and shape of the object.

[Judy Howle]

Thanks Mark! I love the colors, especially the red center.

[denise ippolito]

Judy, Wow! This is fantastic. I love the ripples and hope you keep them. I do see Bill's point here w/ the pattern. This is just another great look you have created w/ this filter. :)

[Dan Brown]

I love this as posted Judy! I really like the topaz effects but what is "PB" ?

[Judy Howle]

Thanks Denise! I love using PB and Topaz on the lotus leaves, it really makes them stand out and the colors pop.

[Judy Howle]

Thanks Dan! PB is Pixel Bender plugin free from Adobe for CS5 only.