Unopened Lotus Bloom
I find shooting unopened lotus blooms more difficult that shooting them when they're open...but the lighting on this one, and the pattern of leaves in the background, really caught my eye. Shot with the 180mm macro, f/22@1/20. RAW image processed in LR then brought into PS where I applied a single lay of Topaz->Simplify->BuzSim and tweaked the sliders from the default settings of the preset a bit.
Excellent composition, John. Love everything about it! beautiful light and colors. The filter effect is just enough to make it standout. Excellent work!
Hi John,
The lighting is exquisite as are the colors. I am enjoying your flowers very much. Would of preferred to not have the lower leaf on the left in, if it were mine.
I agree with Susan's comment above regarding leaf...but as stated lovely lighting and colors...TFS
John, I love the way you processed this one. I don't mind the lower leaf. I would prefer a touch more of the stem but that is all just personal preference. Nice work!
Very lovely glowing effect on the lotus blossom. I really like how the filters removed small busy details and emphasized the flowing lines. The total effect is very serene.
Thank you for your comments and suggestions. Try as I might - and I have tried!- I haven't been able to remove the lower left left and create a space to fill it that looks natural. So.....I selected the lower left leaf...feathered the selection a bit...and did a tone curve over the leaf to darken it, hopefully reducing the tendency for the eye to drift to that area.
Repost is very nice, John. Beautiful serene image.
Really lovely John! The lighting is superb and the colors just beautiful. I like it as presented, love that glow from the blossom. I'm a big fan of simple effect work applied to an excellent base image. Well done!
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
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John.....beautiful image....loving the light you have captured here.....I don't mind the lower leaf but i do think your repost darkening it worked well.
Hi John,
Your repost improved an awesome image to start with. I somehow got the feeling that you were attempting to perhaps seek another option. I hope you don't mind but I took the image into PS and very quickly worked on it (hence the sloppy PS work) just to give you an idea. I selected parts from the LRHS, URHS and LHS individually and placed them in their own layers. I then applied a default layer mask (white) and using a soft brush and painted with black the parts I wanted to conceal. An easy way to remember when working with mask is: white reveals and black conceals. If not comfortable working with mask the eraser tool will work and is an option for many. I toned down the leaves that I patched selectively with a quick curves adj. to match the surrounding tones. I then used the clone tool to extend the stem and patch up the leaves a bit. I cropped a bit from the top in order to place your gorgeous Lotus bud in the 4 power points. It might sound like a lot of work, but it only took me 3 minutes to do. As I stated before I love the work that you are presenting and just wanted to show you a different option that I felt you were trying to explore.
Hi John, very nice original image and IMO Susan kicked it up a notch. I found the leaf a bit distracting and with it's cleanup gives the viewer a full look at the stem with a soft flowing leaf in the backround. The small crop accentuated the beautiful flower and the removal of the leaf on the left also made for a cleaner look. Attractive image and good job on the repost.
Hey John,
You started out with a VG capture....and all the tweaks.....with Susan's being the final icing on the cake! I hope the suggested tweaks inspire you and give you some great direction! Always easy when you start with an excellent base image!
Last edited by Roman Kurywczak; 08-06-2011 at 10:48 PM.
John, I like the repost in pane #7. For me the leaf adds balance to the image.
My thanks to all of you for the comments and suggestions.
Sue...wow...I like your repost...but I haven't been able to create a similar image that kept a "realistic" integrity to the leaves on the lower left. I've come close a couple of times...and I may give it another go yet...but when I do the work the veins in the pads are way off in both angle and placement...something that's important to me...I don't think my PS skills are quite up to yours - yet. I'll keep working on it!
Roman, I'm soaking in everything people are suggesting and I've definitely been inspired in my short time here. Even when I've found myself reverting back to a different version, I'm learning!
Denise, I'm torn between keeping the leaf and losing it...and the more I look at the image, the one that bothers me is the leaf just above it...going to have to keep giving this one some thought.
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