One of the gardeners from work brought in some zinnias so, of course, I brought some home to photograph. After trying the usual stuff, I made a copy of the original and started to play.
I ran a sepia action on the flower, then increased the levels a bit. Next, I started adding layers - first one in gold, reduced the opacity and changed the blend mode; then I added one in a lighter yellow/gold, again changing the blend mode until I found one I liked.
Finally, I upped the contrast and brightness (which I rarely do on a normal print but this seemed to be able to handle the "roughness" of those sliders.) Finally, I ran it through noise reduction and sized it.
I'm really happy with the final tone and the incredible texture that seemed to pop right out of a very boring and color-diluted zinnia. So tell me...do you like this better than a regular sepia print or is it too golden for your taste?
Understated Zinnia
