I very much like what you've done but I'd be inclined to add some kind of a background. It would hide what I think are some bright spots in the light box, but -- more importantly -- I think a textured background would enhance an already good image. Color theory would say to go with orange or blue depending on the look you want. My own inclination would be something soft with blues in it.
Thanks Dennis my thoughts were going this way. Local camera club says you have to make own texture So that could be work in progress
.another learning curve
Thanks Grahame
I agree with Dennis that this is a good base image. I might also change the white balance to more neutral and crop so that the stem is coming out of one of the sides. I have been using textures from Belle Fleur recently called Royal Whispers. They are translucent png's. They are quite lovely and add subtle changes. (not affiliated with them in any way) A blue or blue-green would make for a nice coloured texture(s) making an analogous colour scheme.
Grahame, I like the high key look of the OP. I would probably make the bkgd pure white and punch up the purples in the flowers. On your 2nd image the bkgd overwhelms the flower both in texture and color. Experiment reducing the bkgd to maybe more pastel, as well as punching up the colors of the flower and selectively removing any bkgd that overlays the flowers. Another thought is to have more light on the flower when you photograph it on the lightbox. That would bring out those purples better. I experiment with desk lights, camera flash, etc. when using the lightbox.
Nancy thank you so much you have sent me on another tack. I will go back to basics and start again. The plant is still in great shape. Thanks again
Grahame.
I agree with Nancy about the textured version. Starting there and using the two versions you posted, here's what I came up with. The summary is that I used your existing texture, modified it in Photoshop, and applied it under the cornflower. Two layers of your texture were involved (I did a content aware fill to do away with the cornflower in the re-post and leave something close to the texture you showed). To the first layer, I applied a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to change the hue to a bluer version and to desaturate it a fair amount. I also blurred the layer. The hue of the second layer was also made bluer, and the layer was expanded in all directions and flipped horizontally. To bring back some of the high key look, it was applied in Screen blend mode with a reduced opacity and masked with a soft gradient. (I don't know why this doesn't look as high key, here, as it does in Photoshop. I even went back and increased the screen blend mode opacity but to no avail.)
I love the idea and think the initial image has lots of potential. The flowers are delicate and have lovely shapes. (I keep thinking I should get a lightbox.)
I did some quick work on it. I cropped it to a square (not necessary, I also like the portrait shape). I upped the saturation, lightened the flowers, added contrast and used a photo filter (but don't remember which color). I, too, like the high key background.
Harold David does some beautiful lightbox work, and explains his process: http://www.digitalfieldguide.com/?s=lightbox
I think you can do some lovely work with a soft, light texture.
Wildflower (cornflower) on lightbox
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