Himalayan Blue Poppy

[Anita Bower]

I haven't posted here in months because I've been using textures, hence I've been hanging out at OOTB.

I took this photo at Longwood Gardens when their rare Blue Poppies were blooming (in the Conservatory) for a few days. To my dismay, I couldn't use my tripod (a complicated story), so I used my 50mm f1.8 handheld. This resulted in less sharp images, but I like the results. Sometimes necessity pushes us to try what we wouldn't otherwise do.

Nikon D300, 50mm f1.8, handheld, f1.8, 1/800, ISO 400, autofocus, aperture priority, (don't know white balance). PP in Photoshop 7 and Elements 10: basic adjustments such as contrast, levels, saturation, etc.; crop, clone, use texture from image to fill in light spots, Color Efex Pro >Brilliance-Warmth.

C & C welcome. :-)

[Valerio Tarone]

anita, hello! a 'not bad work', but if you have could get closer..you could have got a frame with petals and pistils alone, well I think it should work better. The green BG is a bit distracting, while the centre is lovely.

[Anita Bower]

anita, hello! a 'not bad work', but if you have could get closer..you could have got a frame with petals and pistils alone, well I think it should work better. The green BG is a bit distracting, while the centre is lovely.
I agree that a closer crop with only the blue and center would be lovely. That was my original idea, but since I can't hand-hold my macro lens, and could not use a tripod, I was limited the the 50mm. I could not get much closer due to position of flowers. Thanks for your comments.

[Valerio Tarone]

Anita Ok. I've learned about lines, textures, curves.......of flowers from the Mike moats's ebook 'tiny landscapes' .I recommend it.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Anita. This flower has beautiful colors - it must be a real treat to see one of these. The slight softness gives your image a rather abstract quality that many folks will like. For my tastes, I think the image would be over the top if just the ring of orange stamen heads and the green pistol were sharp. :S3: The highlights in the ULC are just sharp enough to be distracting - you might try blurring those a little more. With an image like this, my comments are pretty subjective so it will be interesting to see what others chime in. :S3:

[Julie Kenward]

I like it as is. Love the bright, saturated colors and the way the orange sits against the deep blue/purples of the petals. I really like the hot apple green as the BG color and the bit of bokeh in the ULC.

[Anita Bower]

Thank you, Steve and Jules, for your comments! I appreciate the input.

[Ken Childs]

Hey Anita, these flowers are incredible and one day I hope to see one in person. This looks great as is but my thoughts on it are exactly the same as Steve's.....I sharpened the stamen and pistol, blurred the UL and I think if you do the same this one will definitely be over the top!

[Ken Childs]

I should have mentioned that I was able to select the stamen heads by using Photoshop's Color Range tool in the Select menu.

[Anita Bower]

Hey Anita, these flowers are incredible and one day I hope to see one in person. This looks great as is but my thoughts on it are exactly the same as Steve's.....I sharpened the stamen and pistol, blurred the UL and I think if you do the same this one will definitely be over the top!
Thanks, Ken. Will try this.

[Bob Miller]

Hi Anita....Yes I was there a coulpe of weeks ago and just loved these flowers. The colors are "Magical". Do you know that tripods are allowed from 9-12 witha tripod permit in the conservatory?
It is tough focusing with that F1.8 lense but i think you did a reasonably good job. Without a tripod and the wind blowing through the doors just would make it very hard. As is I can accept a soft rendition but I do find the bright bg and ULC distracting> You might consider toning down the bg and ULC.

[Anita Bower]

Hi Anita....Yes I was there a coulpe of weeks ago and just loved these flowers. The colors are "Magical". Do you know that tripods are allowed from 9-12 witha tripod permit in the conservatory?
.
Thanks, Bob. I'm going to tone down the BG and sharpen center and see what I think. I do know about the tripod permit, and usually bring one. I had equipment problems that day. :e3