Spirit of the Flower

[John Storjohann]

Taken Saturday on a shoot at the Botanicals; playing with shallow depth of field. 180mm macro, f/8@100. RAW image processed in LR; toned down the whites a bit in PS, used BuzzSim->Simplify on a low opacity layer, followed by Fractalius on a low opacity layer, Multiply blend mode.

[Nancy Bell]

Wow, this is super cool! I love how the variety of lines take your eye inward and downward to the center; strong, straight white lines of the petals to the inward curved wispy whitish lines of the little interior petals and finally the symmetrical yellow shapes that converge down to the center. The light touch of fractalius is perfect. I am a big fan of this image!

[Bob Miller]

Wow! That was my first reaction on seeing this. The more I look at it the better I like it! I love the wispy look you got with your processing.

[Cheryl Slechta]

John, this is gorgeous. I think the wispy look is what I like the best - it reminds me of dry ice swirling around the center of the flower. It's a perfect combination of filters.

[Mitch Carucci]

This flower becomes almost threatening as the eye is drawn into the center. Three dimensional. Nice effect.

[denise ippolito]

John, I really like the center of this one. The small flame like petals are very interesting.

[John Storjohann]

Thank you for the looks and comments...to be honest, I'm still torn on this one a bit, and that's why I posted it...you get some good feedback from people. Thanks again!