White Lily After the Rain

[John Storjohann]

Went down to the Botanical Gardens this morning to shoot...in between showers I found a small cluster of native lilies in an often unvisited pond on the grounds. Shot with the 100-400 @ 400mm, f/22@1/30. RAW image processed in LR; cropped some from the RHS to strengthen the composition. Once in PS I used Viveza for some regional color and tone adjustments; used NIK Color Efex to tweak the tonal contrast a bit (separate layer, opacity at about 18%). Touched up the petals and pads a bit to remove a few stray insects and some debris blown in by the storms. I would have loved to have gotten a more "open" angle on the lily, but they frown on wading in among the cattails at the Botanicals. :e3

[Jay Sheinfield]

What more open angle did you need?:S3: This is beautiful. Sometimes the partial reveal of the bloom adds more interest than the straight on shot. Great details, textures. Love the pose........ The water drops add interest. What I would do, is clone out the LRC partial pad, and darken or evict the ULC pad, don't know which until I saw it. Probably darken it first since it is a framing element, then just a tad brighter on the stamen, just to highlight their form...........Nice diagonal flow to the image. You creep, by the time I get back, they'll be all dried up:S3::S3:. Nice work, John.

[John Storjohann]

Jay, good to hear from you...and good suggestions on the image. I evicted, I darkened, I brightened :t3...I think you were pretty much right on the money. The lilies are starting to show some sign of wear and tear; until yesterday we had continued with the brutal heat...but now in the 70's and they're predicting highs in the 70's all week...a thirty degree drop from Saturday! Give me a call when you get back...stay safe, enjoy your trip!

[dankearl]

The color and comp is really nice. I think a bit more sharpness would help.

[Dave Mills]

Hi John, Thought I would play with the image a bit. Since the flower is facing to the right I felt it needed more room in that area. I also felt you were a bit close to the left edge so I brought that out a small amount.
I darkened the backround a little bit,tweaked the contrast and sharpened the flower a touch. I used the content aware tool to extend the sides and filled in where I saw inconsistencies. Another idea...

[John Storjohann]

Dave and Dan, thank you for your comments and suggestions. I actually had more room on the right on the original...a good bit more..but the pads on that side were badly burned and in poor condition so I cropped them...and I'm not always real confident (yet) with my PS skills when it comes to rebuilding things. I extended the canvas here...used content aware fill...sharpened it a bit...did some regional work with Viveza...I'll be interested in hearing what you think.

[Dave Mills]

Looks better John.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey John,
Late ot the party! Repost works for me....as I was going to suggest some more room there. Sweet textures and light on the WL!

[John Storjohann]

Roman, I need to constantly remind myself of giving things a bit of space...I always tend to frame compositions very tight, and sometimes it comes back to bite me! Thank you for your comments and suggestions!

[Bob Miller]

John .......lovely image! Repost looks good to me ....but I still feel it is a bit tight at top and bottom!

[Anita Bower]

Gorgeous! Love this one! I like the composition a lot, with the flowing lines to to right. I love, love, love the texture on the white petals and that sunburst of color and shapes in the center of the flower. Wonderful capture! Well composed. Great exposure. The flower is nicely framed by the pads. Re. the various versions, I think I prefer Dave's, with pads going up in the URC. But, it is a mild preference. I like them all! Excellent work.

[John Storjohann]

Thank you, Bob and Anita....believe it or not, still working on this one...:e3