Hi. New here. This shot was taken in a Japanese garden. Quite a bit of PP was present- such as multiple layers with different blending options and also some slight blurring and brushing here and there.


Click for full size:


Thanks!

[lukastrika]

the pp was not so great. the change of color throughout the frame looks very unnatural, and the flower itself looks pasted on. it has blown highlights as well, and the leaves seem underexposed. all in all, very pretentiously planned, but to me it seems worse than a proper normal flower pic without any pp.

[Donald]

yes, I sort of agree. The pp was not so great from an artistic and compositional point. Technical mastery of pp is pretty good, that is it's not obvious, things like brushing, blurring etc.

There is no subject in this photograph: the water lillies, the one red leaf, the lilly bud, the leaves against the black, etc... Ultra stark contrast generally works with very focussed subject content: one brilliant bloom against black; two or so juxtaposed complementary colours only; etc.

"very pretentiously planned" I agree unfortunately, it is a "point and shoot" class photograph that has been attempted to be saved with inappropriate editing.

[codiac2600]

I like it and your mastery of I'm guessing Photoshop is excellent, but I have to semi agree that fmy eyes jumping from one thing to the next and not being drawn in. It's too good in too many areas so before I sit down to enjoy it my brain signals me to move over to another part and this continued till I had to look away. I believe the lillies flowers have the most attention and maybe work on bringing the viewers eyes towards that with less detail everywhere else. Still an awesome job with photoshop (I think) and def something that would take me a while since I've been away from REAL photoshop since college and doing the signs and banners I make for work don't amount to the time you spent on this and the quality (I won't tell my boss if you don't).

[HowLowCanYaGo]

Thanks for the suggestions, lads. When the two posters above suggest there is no subject, maybe you should reconsider your thoughts. This is a WIDE-ANGLE shot, not a bokeh. The subject is the the entire plant itself- including the lily pads, and lilies- even the rocks below the water! When initially taking the shot, I didn't want the viewers eyes to go to one part of the shot and then be done with it. I wanted there to be a lot to look at (notice the dead bug on the bottom right corner). I could understand how some of you would also it is way to contrasted, but look at the coloring! Is it really that ugly? No, it is actually quite fantastic compare to the original.

But I do appreciate the comments

codiac2600, how are you liking that sigma 105mm? I've been thinking about purchasing one.

[codiac2600]

Thanks for the suggestions, lads. When the two posters above suggest there is no subject, maybe you should reconsider your thoughts. This is a WIDE-ANGLE shot, not a bokeh. The subject is the the entire plant itself- includeing the lily pads, and lilies- even the rocks below the water! When initially taking the shot, I didn't want the viewers eyes to go to one part of the shot and then be done with it. I wanted there to be a lot to look at (notice the dead bug on the bottom right corner). I could understand how some of you would also it is way to contrasted, but look at the coloring! Is it really that ugly? No, it is actually quite fantastic compare to the original.

But I do appreciate the comments

codiac2600, how are you liking that sigma 105mm? I've been thinking about purchasing one.

I didn't even notice the bug on the bottom right corner over there on the leaf... Man were my eyes moving around in that picture and missed a lot of detail.

I love the 105 macro, it's as sharp as the Pentax DFA 100mm but I would have to say a little less contrasty. The focus limiter and the way you switch from Auto focus to manual focus is very nice and the build is exceptional. I would highly recommend this lens to anyone looking for a high end macro without the high end cost.

[HowLowCanYaGo]

Cool, thanks for the tip