Longwood Gardens
(If the background has been replaced, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Michael, this is just beautiful. I love all the raindrops on the pads and the bloom. Great composition, details and color.
Oh how I miss Longwood Garden, especially the waterlily displays. Nice composition. I like how the waterlily pads are embracing the flower and the water droplets are another bonus. A pleasure to view.
Michael
This is lovely as is but I kept looking at the intersection of those curved petals and the flower and had to see how it would look at a different crop. Here is the result with that diagonal line emphasized and I knocked down the exposure on the flower as it looked just a tad bright. I also painted dark exposure in the corners for a slight vignette.
I don’t usually download stuff for critiques and I hope you don’t mind.
Simply gorgeous – color and detail are stunning! The flower is cradled so nicely and Kathy’s suggestion is a pleasing alternative. Another option could be a slight crop from the left to remove the three partial leaves along the edge, but that is a very small nit.
Thanks @Diane_Miller, @Kathy_Snead, @Shirley_Freeman, @Patricia_Brundage. Kathy, thanks for taking the time for a rework. I quite like it. Diane, I was looking for some alternate crops as I usually do, and missed the one you suggested. It works well.
Michael: Makes me want to get out and do some waterlily hunting but it has been so blazing hot I’ve just been a couch potato. I like this as originally presented with my only suggestion being to crop a bit from the left to eliminate that partial magenta pad in the ULC. It’s nicely captured but the difference in color pulls my eye a bit. The drops are icing on a very nice cake. >=))>
Sweet looking image, Mike. This has a wonderful crispness to it that enhances all the wonderful things going on within the frame. The pink of the waterlily contrasts perfectly with the greens of the pads and those water drops are the finishing touch to this lovely scene. Great job on this!
Hi Mike,
I think your image works out quite well. I also like Kathy’s version which strengthens the comp quite a bit. Well done…Jim
Superb shot @Michael_Lowe. The appearance of the protection of the bloom by the neighboring leaves is very effective. Colors look gorgeous. Agree with @Bill_Fach regarding the distraction of the magenta in the ULC…I wonder if you wouldn’t be able to hue-shift that to match the neighboring greens. Only other comment is on the overall crispness/sharpness. This is of course a matter of taste, but I’d be tempted to save the sharpening for the bloom and let the raindrops on the leaves remain softer.
