Last Year's Lilacs

[Julie Kenward]

I was out cleaning up the yard and saw the lilac bush and it reminded me of some images I took last year. Here's one from last year's crop...

Canon 40D, EF 100mm macro
f 4.5 @ 1/160th, ISO 200
Hand held, natural light, no flash
Processed in ACR, CS5 and used Color Efex to add color contrast and a slight glow.

[bhavya joshi]

Glowing image..good one.. Julie,
good effect of contrast. great colours..
BG also nice with Two colors Pink and slightly green..:S3:

[Ken Childs]

Hey Jules, I love the colors of Lilacs and you did a fantastic job of getting those pastels looking just right. The addition of a slight glow works well. I'm not sure about the green in the UL....I think I'd like it better without that green or with more green along the top and UR. I'll be curious to hear what others have to say. :S3:

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jules. Looks like spring! (We're still staring at lots of snow and ice up here - and will be for a while yet :t3). I like the overall light pastel feel of this one. I think I'm with Ken on the bright, saturated green - it doesn't seem to fit with the pastel blues. You might experiment with selectively toning it down or desaturating with the goal of creating a light pastel green. :S3:

[Brendan Dozier]

Nice soft, pastel feel to this, Jules. Really captures the freshness of spring. Agree about toning down ULC, and maybe just a tad more saturation to flowers.

[Ed Cordes]

Jules, this is an outstanding image with a wonderful painterly effect. Looks a bit Impressionist. Love it.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Jules, this whole image breaths summer! Can't wait for it to start! I don't mind the green BG because there's also a similar shade of green from the stem of the flowers. Well done!

[Julie Kenward]

Thanks for your comments, everyone. And Jerry - thank YOU for seeing that the green matches the green of the stem. I was beginning to think I was the only one that saw that connection!

I will look at toning it down a tiny bit but I did want this to set the stage for spring and all the vibrance that spring brings with it!

[Anita Bower]

I love, love, love the glow, softness and pastel colors!! Wonderful how the bg mimics the flowers, yet the flowers stand out. I see that the green matches the stem, but--it is too bright for me and is only in one color, making the image feel out of balance. I'm ready to see these blooming!!