Hibiscus #2

[Mark Fuge]

This is an image of one of the Hibiscus flowers from our front yard. It bloomed after the winter cold departed the area and I was able to capture it on the first morning of the bloom, as they don’t last that long, but continue to produce blooms from the bush.

Made it over to Ding Darling NWR today for some shooting. The birds were out when I went through the first time, so I did some blurs for this weeks theme. But as I haven't processed them yet, I will put this up. The second run through at noon was more productive for birds and one gator. I would call it a less than average bird day, after the four hour drive over there. :o But I got a few images to work on. As for this one ...

Modifications included; in PS4, Accented Edges, after which I extracted it and put it into a black background. Then switching to Topaz, I used Topaz Clean, Simplify and Detail. I then switched back to PS4 for Angled Strokes, Diffused Glow and Gaussian Blur.

Enjoy!

[denise ippolito]

I like the processing and the color pop of the red against the black. I do feel the flower is floating a bit. I might tighten up the comp. if it were mine. Glad you got out to Ding today.:)

[Cheryl Slechta]

Mark, I really like the contrasting reds and black bg and like the placement. Reminds me of a Georgia O'Keefe:)

[Indranil Sircar]

Very nice image, Mark. Hibiscus is one of my favorite flowers for photography. I love the color here. Agree with Denise on tightening the crop a bit. TFS.

[Mark Fuge]

Thanks all for viewing and comments. Appreciate it.

[Christopher Miller]

Beautiful colors here, Mark, and I like the strong contrast created by the black BG. Agree on tightening the comp a bit. Very nice.

[Mark Fuge]

Thanks for viewing and comment, Christopher. Appreciate it.

[Paul Lagasi]

Hi Mark really like the colors of your flower and your effects done during PP, I might have made the white strip border around flower same color as flower, cropping a bit off bottom sounds like good advice...but thats just me....

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Nice 3D look and if it were mine I would crop to square. Very nice.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Mark,

Greetings. Nice look to this one... I like the edges (perhaps, a little more edge to the center parts of the flower would work). I might try blending down a couple of the lighter spots on the left side flat petal parts.

Thanks for posting... nice work.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Mark Fuge]

Thanks Paul, Jackie & Michael for viewing and comments. Appreciate it.

I tried numerous crops on this, before posting and I just liked the open area the most. But there are definately other possibilities as you note. Appreciate it.