Lotus Blossom
I've been photographing lotus lily pads and blossoms at the Waterway. I made some late in the day when I went out for sunsets and a few nights ago I saw that they had poisoned them so I went yesterday during the day even though it was hot as blazes to get some photos to manipulate before they were completely dead. Here's one of my favorites of a blossom that has passed it's peak. I used Pixel Bender and Topaz on it.
Nice image and application, Judy.
I also find that sometimes ... death in nature can be interesting and beautiful. Nice image.
Judy, I agree with Mark on this one. Nature is not always new and perfect and there is artistic merit in showing the other side of life. Nice colors and tones in the flower. I find the bg to be a tad busy, but I think a bit of blur applied to it would help. You're a trooper to go out in the heat to get this!
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
Please visit me on the web at http://kerryperkinsphotography.com
Judy, I really like the way the flower looks. It seems to be blowing in the wind. I love Lotus Blossoms. I think you did a great job w/ the filter. I might suggest using something to shade the flower so there isn't mixed lighting. Sometimes I place my shadow in front of them. I do realize that in a natural setting it isn't always an option. Kerry makes a good suggestion regarding the BG but the filter did help to smooth it out. Nicely presented and very appealing.
Thanks Mark. I also had fun "playing with" with dying lily pad photos to the tune of about 50 images so you will be seeing some!
Thanks Kerry. I used the smudge tool on the background to get rid of most of the pixel bender "bends". I can try blurring it too.
Thanks Denise. There was almost no wind. it does look like it's blowing in the wind but the petals were just drooping that way which made it unusual. It was out in the water and the sun was high so I don't think it would have been possible to shade it without waders, haha. But that's a good suggestion for flowers on land and normally I only shoot them on overcast days. I did underexpose it to keep from blowing it out. I could have lightened the background more. Do you think that would look better? I had a small f-stop, probably 11, because I also photographed another one with two flowers together and wanted more DOF and I forgot to change it for this one. I did use the smudge tool all over the bkg to remove details.
Judy, I think it looks fine. You could always use a very small amount of gaussian blur to the BG IF you wanted to but it is not necessary.
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