The last two weeks have been very busy so I haven't had time to post...and it's always so hard, at least for me, to not let that sense of rush or busyness show up in your images when you're "under the gun". Nature has a rhythm and pace all of its own, and when you are out of sync with it, it shows, sometimes in subtle ways, sometimes rather abruptly.
Shot at an ISO of 400, f/16 @ 1/40, 180mm macro lens. RAW image processed in LR, curve adjustment added in PS for color and contrast, some evicting of little mites that I hadn't noticed through the viewfinder, and a slight crop. Added a layer of Topaz Simplify->BuzzSim at an opacity of 76%. I usually don't place my compositions dead center but somehow, at least for me, in worked in this instance. Looking forward to the thoughts of others.
Dead center works for me too. I like the filtering and the subject. Nice job on the composition too. I might try to add some depth to the center area if it were mine so that the center pulls back just a bit (if that makes sense)
John, I like what you did with this image. The composition -- including being centered and the tight framing -- and the filtering really work well. While a black background can add to drama, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. For some reason, my eyes, at least, are drawn to that untextured area that contrasts so strongly with the subject, so I decided to see how I'd feel about something just a bit different. I also liked Denise's idea about darkening the center. So, while I was at it . . .
For the background, I did an Image>Replace Color after using the color picker to view the information about a light bluish purple from a petal. To get its complement, I subtracted 180 from the hue value, and used that to replace the black. (I selected the black with very little fuzziness in order to get some gradation in the replacement color.) All that was on a duplicate layer, the opacity of which was substantially reduced after the color replacement.
For the center, I masked off everything but the center part of the flower and made that the top layer. On the layer below, I placed an exposure adjustment layer, reduced the exposure substantially, and used a radial gradient mask to control how far from the center the effect was visible.
Hi Dennis...I like what you did with the center (I'm going to use Viveza to do something similar later today...to my eye, I still like the dark background better...it's "cleaner" to me...I want to look at your post on a color calibrated monitor later. I deeply appreciate your comments and time!
Beautiful colors and composition, John! I like the topaz effect. Dennis's repost definitely gives it more punch though I agree with you, John, that the black BG looks better.
Thank you for your comments and suggestions. I used Viveza to add some depth around the yellow center - thank you, Denise & Dennis! - and tweaked the Simplify settings a bit. Thank you again!
Clematis
