Theme: Mum

A super macro of a Mum at Longwood Gardens.
Nikon D300, 105mm macro, tripod, 1/30 sec., f5.3, ISO 160, natural light in conservatory.

Processed in Elements 10: Crop, played with saturation, Topaz Simplify Watercolor 1, CEP Reflector Effects, selective dodge and burn. I duplicated the image twice and used it as a texture to create interest and change color in lower right corner.
Textures:
"14" by Shadowhouse
"Sea Foamy--Artists palette": Distressed Jewel

I like the softness and the diagonal, but the thing that really appeals too me is the color gradient opposing the diagonal. The fine granularity in the image comes from one of the textures, I assume. I added a slight Gaussian blur to degranularize it and liked it a bit better that way. Could be a personal preference thing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dennis Bishop

I like the softness and the diagonal, but the thing that really appeals too me is the color gradient opposing the diagonal. The fine granularity in the image comes from one of the textures, I assume. I added a slight Gaussian blur to degranularize it and liked it a bit better that way. Could be a personal preference thing.

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I, too, was attracted by the diagonal. Would you be willing to post your versioin?

The pinks are soft and luscious and that pale appearance of the yellow-gold adds a subtle glow. The macro view of the petals on the diagonal makes a dramatic composition. Those little gold/pink oval shapes at the top of the petals add a delicate & interesting contrast. Beautifully done, Anita!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anita Bower

I, too, was attracted by the diagonal. Would you be willing to post your versioin?

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I'm not sure why, but I no longer see what I referred to as granularity, earlier. There's a fibrous texture, there, but I like it. So, I retract that part of what I'd said. In case you're still interested, though, I'm going to post what I'd done when playing around earlier and another one.

Attachment 147448

The one on the left is the one I did with the Gaussian blur. Of course, it blurred the edges as well as the texture. The one on the right is the blurred version with a mask applied to reveal the edges of the non-blurred one underneath. However, I don't prefer either over what you posted.

The bottom line here, to me is -- we don't always need tack-sharp! This is gorgeous either way!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Diane Miller

The bottom line here, to me is -- we don't always need tack-sharp! This is gorgeous either way!!

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Thanks, Diane. No need for tack sharp works for me. I've never been good at sharp. :-)

Thanks, Dennis. Interesting that you had different opinion after seeing image again. My practice is to work on an image, then come back to it another day for a fresh look. Sometimes I like what i did, sometimes not.

Love the combination of your vision, color and textures!

Flower lady strikes again, lovely image, well done

Thank you, Steve and Paul.

A belated well done.

Beautiful work, Anita:S3:

Love the colours and the picture on the diagonal. Very pretty. Being a texture fan, I like the one with the texture over the top. Well-crafted image Anita.

Thanks Gary, Cheryl and Jackie.

Congratulations, Anita:S3: