Iris II

[John Storjohann]

Another image from last Saturday...ISO 400, f/22@1/20, 180mm. RAW image processed in LR; curve for adjustment in PS, NIK Tonal Contrast at 21%, NIK Vignette Blur at 60%, Topaz Simplify Buzz Simm at 60%. Slightly cropped and rotated; slight angle intentionally left (not sure if the Iris was crooked or I was, but I liked the look...) The colors in the iris this year fascinate me!

[Hazel Grant]

ok, now I must get out there and experiment with my irises. You've inspired me. Love the contrast of the center to the purplish petals. My inner senses want to tell that left tilt to straighten up, but my head also knows this is nature. Since I love watercolors, this mood you've created fits me just fine. good job.

[Anita Bower]

Another beauty! I like the tilt. I love that you got in close. Glorious colors, textures, curves. The only distracting feature is the darker, smooth petal on the left side. Looking forward to more of these beauties.

[Dennis Bishop]

When I looked at this, earlier, I liked it. The interplay of the blues and purples is just wonderful, and I liked the soft blues at the top against the white (or almost white). However, my eye was drawn so intently to the reddish orange that I really wasn't fully appreciating the upper part of the image. I even wondered about cropping the softer parts of the image away.

After returning, I copied it into Photoshop and subdued the reddish orange with a decrease in saturation and an increase in lightness to the reds in a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. To me, that makes it fit better into the rest of the image.

[denise ippolito]

John, This looks like a soft detailed watercolor. Love the colors and you did a great job with the composition. I love everything about this one and wouldn't change a thing except the de saturation suggested by Dennis.

[John Storjohann]

Thank you for the comments...let's see if I understood the suggestions....not much I can do about the one dark petal on the LHS...but I did take a shot at the de-saturation and lightening that Dennis and Denise mentioned. Thanks again for taking the time to critique!

[denise ippolito]

Looks great to me!

[Bob Miller]

John....This is really lovely! I like everything about it! The repost with the slight desaturation is even better! You have done a masterful job of composing what I imagine to be a very difficult composition.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi John, lovely work on the repost!!

[Julie Kenward]

I love it! I am a big fan of purple irises and you really did this one justice. I like the soft watercolor feel. These are very tricky to photograph as they go so deep and so shallow all at the same time. You did a great job just getting it all in focus and then really kicked it up a notch!

[John Storjohann]

Thank you for the comments and taking the time to view!

[Cheryl Slechta]

John, I think the repost improved an already beautiful image. To me, I think the darker violet petal on the left is distracting because it is smooth and the rest of the iris has texture.