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Thread: Cattail Blur

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    Default Cattail Blur

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    I went to the local Botanical Garden yesterday to shoot water lilies...great light between showers, but the wind made things a bit tricky. There was a stand of cattail on one side of a small pond that is seldom visited; I decided to try my first intentional blur, shooting the stalks at the waterline, capturing some of their reflection n the water as well. I have to tell you...I have a new respect for just how difficult achieving a decent blur; at least one that comes anywhere close to what you have in mind! In between moments of laughing (if anybody sees me doing this...they're going to think I've gone off the edge) and frustration (this didn't sound hard..what is wrong with me?)...I ended up with one image that was somewhat close to what I hoped for, and even then the blur had to be enhanced in PS. It was an interesting trial, and one I intend to revisit at some time! Shot with the 100-400@400mm, f/22@1/5. Processed in LR; brought into PS and used Blur->Motion Blur to enhance the blur; then used Topaz Clean for a bit of pop.

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    John, You did an amazing job with this one. The colors and the lines are wonderful. I'm not crazy about the green in the LLC area but it isn't a deal breaker for the image. Sometimes I like the strong lines in a vertical pan to be a little more off centered- in this case the green. Great job and don't give up you are on to something here!

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    Hi Denise, and thank you for your observations. I agree about the green in the LLC...there was a bent/broken cattail that curved across the image, inches above the water...I think it might have worked in a "straight" image, but here it just draws the eye away from the lines. Good comment about the center green cattail as well..and something I hadn't thought about...but you're right, your eye gets stuck there. I shot some water blurs this morning...so there's more coming..but I want to revisit this pond in the future as well. Thank you for your insights!

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    John, I can hardly wait to see more of your blurs. I think the LLC green is distracting as Denise pointed out. I like the triangles that are repeated in the upper half of the image. Nice.
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    John, Nice first job with a blur.........I'll defer to Denises' comments re blurs. My thought would be to tone down the brighter green areas of the furthest cattail on the right hand side......I draws my eye just a bit ........... otherwise nice job. I like the hint of reflection in the water......

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    Hi John, love the amount of blur and the colors too. Agree on the green in the LLC as being a little distracting, but overall a nicely blurred image!

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    Thank you all for your comments. Everything I tried to conventionally evict the green blur on the LHS failed...so...I got a little unconventional. I cropped the image...copied it to a new layer...flipped it..and blended the two. Not the most elegant of solutions..but I'd be interested in hearing what you think! My water blurs from this morning were an unmitigated disaster......but I came away with a few ideas as to what to do next time, and I did get a nice portrait of a great egret, so the morning wasn't a flop. Thanks again...your comments and suggestions are always welcome.

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    Quote Originally Posted by John Storjohann View Post
    Hi Denise, and thank you for your observations. I agree about the green in the LLC...there was a bent/broken cattail that curved across the image, inches above the water...I think it might have worked in a "straight" image, but here it just draws the eye away from the lines. Good comment about the center green cattail as well..and something I hadn't thought about...but you're right, your eye gets stuck there. I shot some water blurs this morning...so there's more coming..but I want to revisit this pond in the future as well. Thank you for your insights!
    I agree with your observations. What I especially like in this image are the curving lines in between the straighter ones.

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    I think you did well for your first blur. The colors are nice and the repost looks good.

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    John...Your repost worked well........ nice solution.....still wish the central geen wasn't so bright dividing the image so much!

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    I like the repost. Agree with Bob wishing that horizontal line were not there. I look forward to seeing more of your blurs. Good job for a first try.

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    Judy, Bob and Anita..thank you for your comments and suggestions. I went back to that small pond this morning and tackled the cattails again...will be doing some processing later today. Hopefully attempt #2 will be a bit more successful!

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