This cottage, named Never Enough Thyme, is one of the gems of Lakeside, Ohio. The architectural style is attractive, and the property is well-maintained, but it's also because of the spectacular display of flowers. Every year, the area that was to the right when I took this photo is covered with beautiful flowers. The owners plant and water them by hand every year. No wonder the name of the cottage . . .
Nikon D3s, ISO 1250, f/8, nine-exposure HDR at 1 EV increments, zoom lens at 22 mm
processing highlights
- This is actually two sets of HDR images taken 12 minutes apart and processed identically to get the base layer. The backlighting of the flag was better in the earlier set, but there was a car parked across the street.
- The sky wasn't blown out but needed a little more color, so a new one was added.
- Topaz Simplify -- saved watercolor preset, masked to better show the details of the flowers and the stars in the flag
- Alien Skin Snap Art -- saved watercolor wash preset, Hard Light blend mode
- Fractalius -- three saved black-on-white presets; Multiply, Divide, Multiply
- Snap Art -- saved black-on-white edges preset, Multiply
- Simplify -- saved black-on-white edges preset, Multiply and Divide
- background softened with Field Blur
- Anita's use of Filter>Render>Lighting in a recent image inspired me to use it centered behind the flag consistent with the backlighting. Thanks, Anita.
- gradient vignette


