Iris VI

[John Storjohann]

I liked the almost Nautilus-like spiral into this particular bloom...then again, that may just be me taking off on a flight of fancy . 180mm lens, f/16@1/20. RAW image processed in LR; curved adjustment in PS, NIK Detail Extractor at 21%, NIK White Neutralizer, NIK Pro Contrast, Topaz Simplify->BuzzSim @33%, NIK Vignette Blur, center point adjustment, @ 42%. Slight crop from the bottom. Comments welcomed!

[Jay Sheinfield]

John, I really like this. The black area on the right, pulls my eye, I might want that filled-in but not sure how you could do that. The blue and yellow details are especially nice along with the flowing lines of the lower pedal. You have a good eye for the details. Nice work.

[John Storjohann]

I hear you, Jay. I struggled with that dark area...there is a part of me that thinks it adds to the "spiral" sense of the composition, another part of me that thinks it overpowers the frame...not sure if lightening it would help, and not sure if filling it in would take away a key element of the composition. Even when I was looking at this through the viewfinder I was torn. I'll play with it some more tonight. Good eye...we're on the same page!

[Cheryl Slechta]

John, this is a different view and I like it. I could also see a big crop from the top which would eliminate the dark area and focus on the lower left corner. Or actually a lesser crop from the top eliminating the brightest white part of the image and leaving the dark area (thinking out loud on paper). I kind of like the dark area because I think it adds a new dimension of depth.

[denise ippolito]

John, I like the curves and the details. The bright area at the top does draw my eye a little. Nicely seen.

[Bob Miller]

Hi John.....I like this alot. I would leave the dark area myself because it defines that curve. The complementary yellows and blues are playing off nicely against each other. I think I would crop a bit from the top and emphasize that curve even more. This is one of my favorites!

[Brendan Dozier]

Really like your unique view of this Iris, John. Nice curving lines, soft light, and color. Agree with a crop off top, but very nicely done.

[John Storjohann]

Thank you for the comments and suggestions; re-post with a crop from the top.

[Anita Bower]

Lovely colors and shapes. This is the weakest of your gorgeous Iris series. The dark area does not work for me. Have you tried cloning some lower petal into that area? I did a quick job of it and thought it improved the image.

[John Storjohann]

Thank you for your thoughts, Anita. I did try evicting the dark area by cloning; to my eye it lost some of the essential compositional elements I was looking for in the image.