Theme: Multi-layered flowers

I photographed a beautiful display of flowers while in southern India (where it is summer!) using the HDR feature of the Canon 5DMarkIII and zoomed at the same time. Each layer is saved and I placed a zoomed layer over a non zoomed layer and had the splay of pink flowers masked so they would show through. I continued with layers of fractalius, pastel and buz sim split-toned from Topaz simplify 4, masking the splay of pink flowers each time; as well as varying the opacities of the layers. And although the temperature outside has dropped 25 degrees and it is snowing, this makes me feel like spring time :S3:!

I'm not sure I understand what you started with, but it sure turned out well. I like the combination of stronger and softer versions of the same colors and the diagonals of reds and violets against the yellow-green background. The darker greens make a nice accent. You're doing a good job of giving us folks in the snowy north a glimpse of Spring. Did what happened in the camera give you different combinations of zoom level and exposure with zooming at only one level of exposure?

This is a happy image! It makes me smile. I love the colors, the shades of pink and green. I like the strong diagonal made by the darker of the pink flowers. I love how the flowers seem to move around the image. Since I don't do HDR (am I the only photographer who doesn't), I don't fully understand how you put this together. But, you did a glorious job. The only change I'd make is to clone out a few bits of flower peeking in along the frame.

You also lost me on how you did it, but it is a bright and cheery image and I like it a lot, especially the magenta and purple blooms.

Wow -- something new (or too complicated?) for Dennis -- that's amazing!! :w3

I'm clueless too, but it's beautiful!! And WARM!!

pastorial really nice

It certainly is cheery, and I love the flow of the diagonal flowers crossing in the frame. I agree with Anita about the flowers on the edge, and I wonder about toning down the whites a bit, but that might change the whole feeling of the image. Well executed image.

Thanks everyone! I mis-wrote about my technique. I used in-camera multiple-exposure, set to 2 images, and zoomed during those images. Then I took one of those multiple exp images that was zoomed and stacked it on top of a non-zoomed image of the same flowers. Thanks Anita & Jackie for pointing out those smudges on the edge. Jackie, I tried it toning down the whites but it lost the fresh, cherry look.

Hi, Nancy, I didn't see your last post and was just going to ask if maybe you hadn't used the Multiple Exposure mode:S3: You can get something similar with the Mark II in HDR mode by taking one shot and then moving the camera around for the second and third shots but it all happens really quickly and the last 2 images are so whacky that you wouldn't be able to go back and mask out parts.
Anyway, I like what you did:cheers:

Nancy, it sure does remind me of spring - so bright and airy with lovely complementary colors. The darker areas in the bg really add depth and contrast to the flowers. Very enjoyable image.

Fascinating technique, as Dennis noted the composition really solidifies the image. When I first saw the thumbnail, a floral print material came to mind, like that of a summer dress. Nicely executed!