Theme: Clematis

A Clematis from my garden. Photo taken indoors with natural light. 105mm macro lens.

Processed in Elements 10, using burn, clone, crop, darken, lighten. Color Efex Pro: various, but the main one was Skylight filter.
Textures:
"Sweets" by Coffee Shop--http://www.thecoffeeshopblog.com/
"Lavender Kiss" (I think it is by Jai Johnson--colors altered.)
"Grunged up" by Kim Klassen--http://www.kimklassencafe.com/

Questions: Does it look too flat? Is it too saturated? (It is a very bright flower.)

Constructive critiques welcome.

Anita,

Greetings. Beautiful! I particularly like the detail midst the overall soft feel of the image. The color. too. is very appealing. Good show!

Cheers,

-Michael-

I like it a lot just the way it is. The vignetted background you built is perfect, and, of course, the flower is beautiful.

Only because you asked . . .
If it were mine, I'd back off the saturation of the petals and leaves ever so slightly. It doesn't strike me as being flat, but I played around trying to make it seem more three-dimensional. In general, lights seem closer than darks, so I applied the light green from the leaves behind the flower with a radial gradient. It toned down the brightness of the background locally, and it made the whites of the clematis bloom more prominent. Both of those probably make the bloom appear closer. I also added a soft drop shadow to some of the petals. That was done to give a hint of depth, but it also reduced the brightness behind the petals a bit more. Honestly, though, I'd never have thought of those things if you hadn't posed the questions. I like what you did.

Dennis: Thanks! What I like best about what you did are the whiter whites, which I was unable to achieve. I confess that I still don't know how to use the gradient tool very well. But, I just now tried it and it does tone down the saturation a bit, but, it doesn't make the whites whiter. I do prefer the slightly less saturated look. Many thanks!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anita Bower

Dennis: Thanks! What I like best about what you did are the whiter whites, which I was unable to achieve. I confess that I still don't know how to use the gradient tool very well. But, I just now tried it and it does tone down the saturation a bit, but, it doesn't make the whites whiter. I do prefer the slightly less saturated look. Many thanks!!!

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Anita, I only used the radial gradient as part of a mask on the yellow-green layer I applied. Nothing I did there or anywhere else would have actually made the whites in the petals any whiter. When we take something in, be it in real life or in art, I think much of what we perceive is because of relative differences rather than absolute values. The whites in the petals look whiter than they did in the original because they're, now, the only whites. Before, they were much closer in value to the light part of the background directly beside the petals.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dennis Bishop

Anita, I only used the radial gradient as part of a mask on the yellow-green layer I applied. Nothing I did there or anywhere else would have actually made the whites in the petals any whiter. When we take something in, be it in real life or in art, I think much of what we perceive is because of relative differences rather than absolute values. The whites in the petals look whiter than they did in the original because they're, now, the only whites. Before, they were much closer in value to the light part of the background directly beside the petals.

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Oh!! That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. This is why I'm part of this wonderful group. :-)

Fascinating how that pale green radial gradient added depth in such a subtle way. I need to explore that, as well as the drop shadows. These are tools I have not used. Anita, I love all the pink and the composition with the flower exploding pink petals and the vignette with the soft pinks surrounding the flower. The delicate tendrils with just a few small leaves add a gracefulness to the image.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dennis Bishop

Anita, I only used the radial gradient as part of a mask on the yellow-green layer I applied.

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Does that mean you created a new layer on which only a radial gradient was applied? Did you then have to paint over the flower?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anita Bower

Does that mean you created a new layer on which only a radial gradient was applied? Did you then have to paint over the flower?

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Pretty much. I filled a new layer wall-to-wall with the yellow-green from one of the petals. At first, I just applied a mask with the radial gradient going outward from the center of the flower to a spot below one of the lower petals. That was a trial and error approach that took two attempts to make it extend to where I wanted it. Although I didn't realize it, at first, because the opacity was low, the gradient was over the flower.

By the time that registered, I'd already done a mask that revealed only the flower and leaves, but I don't remember why. Because I already had it, I subtracted that mask from the radial gradient mask and replaced the radial gradient mask with the new one. Instead, I could've painted over the flower petals with black in the yellow-green layer mask and gotten the same thing. Good grief! I just read that, and hardly understood it even though I know what I did. I probably should've stopped after, "Pretty much."

Very pretty Anita, and I like the subtle yet significant changes Dennis made. I was going to suggest lowering the saturation and doing something with the background, but Dennis was already on top of it! Well done!

I've been trying to copy what Dennis did. Here is my best attempt. Is this an improvement over the OP? Or not?

Congratulations Anita! I didn't see this before, I've not had much time to spend on the forum lately. This is an excellent image all around; the composition, colors and texture are fabulous!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Judy Howle

Congratulations Anita! I didn't see this before, I've not had much time to spend on the forum lately. This is an excellent image all around; the composition, colors and texture are fabulous!

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Thank you, Judy. I, too, have not been here are much as I'd like. Too many fun things to do outdoors.

I do see the soft green gradient you added behind the flower. I like it.

Congratulations Anita, beautiful image!

Thank you, Nancy and Jackie.