Rose and rosebuds

[Wendy Kates]

You are going to be seeing a lot of roses from me this summer: we have a beautiful, public rose garden in Syracuse (was it here when you lived here in the 70's, Nancy?), and I'm taking every opportunity there to practice with my macro lens. This image was processed with Topaz Glow, Fur and Feathers II. I applied a fairly heavy vignette effect so the flower would pop, but now that I see it posted, it may be too heavy on the right side...

[Dennis Bishop]

I would've thought all roses in Syracuse would be orange. The pink looks good against the background, and I really like the processing. The heavy vignette is doing what you wanted. If you think it's darkening the petals too much, a quick mask would take care of that.

[Kerry Perkins]

Nice complementary colors and the processing looks great. I would agree about lightening that upper right area of the flower with a mask.

[Hazel Grant]

yes, nice. agree that the vignette is a bit wide.

[Wendy Kates]

Thanks, all. Since the vignetting was built into the Fur and Feathers filter, masking the petals in the upper right would have masked the entire filter effect, I think...if you can suggest a way to avoid this, please chime in. So instead, I added a levels layer and increased the brightness of the image, and then masked the corners in order to maintain the vignette effect in those specific areas. Do you think this is an improvement? Thanks for you input. Oh, and Dennis...we have don't just have orange roses in Syracuse...we have blue ones too!

[Arthur Morris]

Though they are quite similar I like the original post best. I love the image, the colors, and the effect, esp. on the buds. Looks like an Ippolito.....

[gary ellwein]

Wendy, I like the composition with the flow of the branches and positioning of the buds and flower. The PP of the rose is particularly well done. Between the two, I prefer the original.

[Nancy Bell]

Wendy, to control the effects of a filter, select an all-white mask on the same layer as the effect & with a soft black brush set at a low opacity, brush away the effects from the rose. If you brush too much, use a white brush to undo your mistake. I love the outline effect on the rose petals and the buds, and the swirls in the pinks. You might want to reduce the whiteness of a spot to the left of the rose, just above a reddish stem with a mostly hidden bud. The deep pink buds are a great compositional element.

I don't remember a rose garden when I was in Syracuse. But then again, I was a teenager... Sounds like a fabulous garden for photo ops.

[Anita Bower]

Beautiful roses, beautiful processing. I really like the outline look and the colors. I prefer the OP, but think that I'd like the rose with a bit less of the vignette, created as described by Nancy. There is a brightish green stem (?) in the upper center that is a bit distracting. It's great to see what Glow can do. Lovely, lovely work.

[Wendy Kates]

Thanks, all! I'll try the method that Nancy described. Artie: Denise is my main source of inspiration for flower photography...really, for most photography!

[Dennis Bishop]

There's another technique for masking the texture off the rose that doesn't require following the edges of the rose by hand. Because of the distinctly different colors of the rose and the background, it's quick and easy to do. Make probably the background layer of the rose photo active, and use the Quick Selection tool to select it. A few loose strokes within it with a fairly large brush should do it. Then, choose Select/Inverse, make the texture layer active, and click the mask icon at the bottom of the Layer palette. That'll mask the rose out completely. If you want some of the texture over the rose, just -- after you've created the black mask but while the marching ants are still there -- do Edit/Fill and choose white at some low opacity. If that opacity isn't right, tell it you've changed your mind and try a different one.

Select/Color Range is also useful for making selections that will become masks. In this case, there's some red in the stalks, so they'll be chosen, too, when the rose is. It's easy enough, though, to finesse the selection with the Quick Selection tool before generating the mask or with a white brush afterwards.

"Oh, and Dennis...we have don't just have orange roses in Syracuse...we have blue ones too! " In the early/mid 1960s, I saw (and of course cheered against) Jim Nance and his teammates on the football field and wrestling mat at Penn State. Blue trim could well have been part of the uniforms way back then.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks, all! I'll try the method that Nancy described. Artie: Denise is my main source of inspiration for flower photography...really, for most photography!

I did not know that when I posted my original comment but when I mentioned the photo to denise she had lots of nice things to say about you. She is missed here.

[Anita Bower]

I did not know that when I posted my original comment but when I mentioned the photo to denise she had lots of nice things to say about you. She is missed here.

Denise is definitely missed here by me!