Lotus Painting II

[John Storjohann]

100-400mm lens @340mm; f/8@1/80, ISO 400. RAW image processed in LR; light layer of NIK Tonal Contrast; some minor blemish removal; evicted a stray leaf in the LLC and blurred the one in LRC, both of which I found distracting to the original composition. PS Oil Painting filter applied at the end.

[denise ippolito]

John, Beautiful capture and processing. The details are crisp and go nicely with the linen look of the flower. Not sure why but it appears a little like it has been cut and pasted to background, especially around the top right? Could just be the way it is. Anyway I am on the fence regarding the front leaf and the hole in the one petal.

[Dave Mills]

Hi John, Beatiful subject taken along with a nicely muted backround. Good lighting,detail with the whites well handled. I like the leaf at the bottom which acts as an anchor. I might fill in the torn petal or smooth it out so it doesn't look jagged. Not sure which would look best without seeing it...

[John Storjohann]

Denise and Dave, thank you for the comments and suggestions. Denise, I'm not sure what cause that appearance either...but I didn't like it, so I started with the RAW file and reworked the image from scratch. I wasn't sure which petal you were referring to as torn...none of them were to my memory, or from viewing the file...but I think you were referring to the large petal in the UR? I filled it in...let me know what you think. I also toned down the saturation a bit. Thank you again!

[denise ippolito]

John, I think that the cut and pasted look is gone in the repost, not sure why it appeared that way. It is now clear that the torn petal is not a torn petal- it was the one just below the bud, I might evict the rough edges showing through if it were mine. Nice repost.

[John Storjohann]

A tweak here and there...looking to add to the painted feeling...and hopefully the rough edge is smoothed (I need you over my shoulder, whacking me in the head.."Here!"...

[Douglas Bolt]

Excellent! It just cries out to be a poster or on the cover of something. I really like the processing - subtle, but strong.

[denise ippolito]

The last repost looks great!

[Cheryl Slechta]

John, the last repost is perfect! Except for the little pink tip of a petal underneath the bud - it looked like a torn petal on the OP.

[Anita Bower]

How did I miss this one? I LOVE the texture of the petals! I feel as if I could reach out and touch them. Beautiful work! Wonderful colors and light. I prefer the reposts, with the lighter bud. I find the leaf on the lower border a bit discordant--not sure why. Maybe if it were more the color of the other leaf? I circled the area where I think others are suggesting a clone.

[John Storjohann]

Takes me a while sometime...here's the current image...got rid of the circled spot (thank you!...took me a while, didn't it? ) and extended the top a sliver...thank you for the views and comments!

[Anita Bower]

Lovely!!!!

[Judy Howle]

I'm glad I came in after all the adjustments so I could follow along! This is an excellent treatment of one of my favorite flowers! Your last repost is really outstanding. I love the bud and the leaf at the bottom doesn't detract from it. It's hard to get a perfect comp on lotus when they usually grow so close together and with many distracting parts of leaves, buds, seed pods in the vicinity it's hard not to include one in my experience.

[Indranil Sircar]

John, this is outstanding! Wonderful perspective with bg, colors and lighting. Love the final repost. Excellent work!

[Bob Miller]

John....Your final repost is perfect! I love the colors and textures you have brought out in the bloom. If it were mine ( I wish! )....I would add another small sliver to the top

[Dan Brown]

The final product is a wonderful piece of digital art, John!

[John Storjohann]

Thank you for the comments and suggestions!