Giant Amazon Water Lily Bloom

[John Storjohann]

This image was captured just before a storm hit...shot with the 100-400 at 320mm, f/8@1/50. Processed the RAW image in LR, and rotated the image slightly CW; once in PS, tweaked the tone and color regionally with Viveza; added a bit of canvas to the left and to the top and used Content Aware Fill to blend to the image. Evicted a fly that was posing atop the center petals..handsome fellow, but added nothing to the composition :bg3:. Touched up a few minor blemishes on the pad and petals. Have a good one!

[Brendan Dozier]

Like the light on this, John, and nicely composed. Nice exposure, and whites look great againts black BG. Like the reflections, and curving line and texture of the FG plant adds interest. Nice work!

[Dave Leroy]

Excellent contrast with flower and bg. Very nice composition and feeling in the photo. I especially like the subtle colours in the flower and if mine I may be tempted to bump them just a bit. Personal preference only.
Dave

[Dave Mills]

Hi John, nice exposure with good detail and light. A few things..would of preferred the pad to be sharp and the reflection appears to be disjointed along with being very close to the bottom. If this were mine I would also take some off the top...lot of neg space there...

[Steve Maxson]

Another nice one, John. I like all the subtle colors and detail in the flower. Dave makes some good points for you to consider. If it was me, I might have left the fly - but then I'm more of a "bug" guy. :S3:

[John Storjohann]

Thank you for the comments and suggestions. Dave, you gave me some good food for thought...my idea was that going with a lower aperture would help isolate the bloom a bit more, but you're right...I think it would have been a stronger image had I stopped down to f/22 or so and tried to keep the pad in focus as well. I debated for a long time about the reflection...still debating! I really like your comment about negative space...it's something I struggle with on some images, trying to bring in that feeling of repose/quiet/space...I appreciate your comments, definitely food for thought when I go back.

[Jay Sheinfield]

Hi John, I'm late to the party on this image. I like it a lot. I agree with Dave's comments on some off the top and some sharpening. Beautiful colors, processing and design as usual.:S3:

[John Storjohann]

Hi Jay, Steve and Dave...I spent a good bit of time working on the image per your suggestions...I think the comments were right on the mark, but I couldn't achieve bringing them to fruition within this image. The FG was too OOF to bring back regardless of the sharpening I used...and there were so many fine details weaving through the reflection of the blossom from the pad that when I evicted it...in spite of several attempts...it didn't look natural to my eye. Not excuses...I think I just need to tuck the suggestions for improvements away and try to apply them next time around. Thanks again for your time and comments!