Butterflyscape

[Julie Brown]

I had initially cropped this tight for the butterfly, but since it did not have eye contact I backed out on the crop and realized that there was a nice flower there. After adjusting exposure, sharpness, and cloning the BG in Lightroom, I smoothed out the BG and applied the dry brush filter in PSE.

[denise ippolito]

Julie, Nice looking image and the BG looks great. I like the effect of the dry brush. Just a few halos, these can be easily removed using a soft brush at a lower opacity.:) Perfect title!:)

[Julie Brown]

Thanks Denise. Are you talking about the light areas around the flower and bf? Can I touch the edges with the brush? I still don't know PSE very well.:)

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Nice comp and BG Julie.

[denise ippolito]

Thanks Denise. Are you talking about the light areas around the flower and bf? Can I touch the edges with the brush? I still don't know PSE very well.:)

Yes, Julie-the light edges can be feathered a bit more using a soft brush at lower opacity-you can slightly touch the edges but try to be careful. I find that blowing the image up helps with this kind of touch up.:)

[Christopher Miller]

I like the colors and BG here, Julie. Nice comp and painted effect. Personally I would prefer for the butterfly to not be angled away, though. The crop looks a bit tight to me on the top and sides.

[Bud Cline]

What a delicate and lovely scene - a very appealing creation.

[Julie Brown]

Thanks for the additional comments, Denise, Jackie, Christopher, and Bud.
Christopher, I have a tendency to crop tight. This is backed out for me!
I took the focus off the butterfly because of the angle and lack of eye contact.

Here is a repost with a little more room on the top and the right. I tried to get rid of the halos-need more practice!:)