Nature's Bouquet

Beautiful red roses. I used Perfect Effects, Topaz Simplify, Clean and Detail and a vignette.

I like what you captured with your camera, and the vignette is effective. But -- and this might be just me -- the roses are a bit intense for my taste.

I applied a hue/saturation adjustment layer and both desaturated and lightened the reds and magentas various amounts. The changes to the magentas -- especially making them lighter -- made a big difference.

Yes, agree. My first thought was, those roses are intense and seem a bit muddled. Everything else seems very real and then there are the roses with their effects. Like the comp.

Thanks for the comments Dennis and Hazel. I thought they were really red but I started with the raw image for a re-do and they look more like Dennis' version. :e3 This time I didn't go wild with Perfect Effects, in fact I skipped it altogether and used Topaz Simplify, Clean and Detail with no intentionally added saturation. In addition, the background had a lot of grunginess that looked sort of like ugly grain so I tried out the new CS6 field blur and I was very pleased with the result! I selected all the flowers and everything that looks sharp and promoted it to a layer and then applied field blur to the whole image below and it looks quite natural to me.

Hi Judy. The repost is much better to my eye ...shooting a combination like this is tricky. Stopping down to get the DOF you need for the subject also begins to make some of the background elements competing compositional "pieces"...the vignette you used helps with this, and it may have been effective to have taken it just a smidge further...it's a fine balance to strike. A nice blend of detail and "painterly abstraction"...a lot for the eye to feast on!

Judy, Nice job with the filtering. I think Dennis' version is a tiny bit warmer than your last version and I tend to like the warmth a little bit more. You did a nice job with the vignette -it makes it look like a small spotlight is on the roses.:S3:

Nice image and application, Judy.

I like this one.

I have two suggestions which I might have tried if it were mine. I like to use a touch of Selective Colors in Photoshop to bring out the Blk and adjust the neutral and white as needed. It usually doesn't take much, I like the depth that it gives. The other item is that I would have tried to transition the vignette. It is a little too strong at the transition point for my tastes. But ... as they say ... Y.I.Y.V. Just a few thoughts on it. See the attached for the effects of the Selective Colors, which could be adjusted more to your pleasure. :w3

Of the posts above, I like the original, for the colors.

Thanks Mark, and everyone who replied and offered suggestions. I have been busy getting photos ready for another show and I haven't had time to work on the photo again. I agree that I like the warmer color of the OP and perhaps the vignette does need a lighter transition.