For some reason, I seem to be on a journey right now of wanting everything to look kind of “ethereal” . Perhaps it is my frustration of continually trying to photograph the lupine on my hill that are mixed with grasses. Yes I can find one perfect one here and there and isolate it but as I roam around, I just seem to be drawn to big groups.
D850, 300 mm f4 at 4.5, ISO160, handheld, color painted, split toned and Orton applied.
Hi Kathy. Like the softness to the image, both in the lupines and the background. Very pleasing to view. Very creative lupine scene. Well done.
Kathy, this image has a wonderful soft, painterly look, looks like you succeeded in making lemonade out of lemons here. Flowers don’t always have to be perfect to come away with keeper images. I like the high key look and the pastel colors that it creates, both in the purple flowers and the background. It reminds me of the approach suggest by @Sarah_Marino in her recent article on using shallow DOF. This high key looks makes them appear very ethereal.
Nothing to do with nothing, but the other thing I’m struck by is how different these western (I assume from Colorado) lupines look as compared to the lupines I shot in New Hampshire in my recent post here in Flora. Very different look and feel to them.
Kathy: I’m certainly enjoying your journey to the ethereal and think you’ve succeeded nicely here. Wonderful color palette superbly complemented by the soft focus. 
>=))>
The ethereal works really well here. The image has a nice painterly look and is beautiful.
Ed_McGuirk. Thank you for the comments. The lupine are so different , aren’t they? Your eastern ones are perfect and orderly. My western ones are disorganized, rangy and far from perfect. This is in Colorado on the Green Mountain open space on the west side of town. Our lot abuts the open space and I have been privileged to walk out my door and hike there for many years.
Kathy,
Just so beautiful; soft and lovely. The back drop is a perfect marriage for the flowering plant. Exquisite job with this.
Lon
