The Beginning

What technical feedback would you like if any?

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

General presentation, appeal, improvements, any other suggestions to strengthen the image.

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

(If the background has been replaced, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Captured on a D850 with Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 lens in RAW format. White balance and black point set in Lightroom CC Classic. Additional color balance, vignette, and some dodging performed in Photoshop CC 2019. NIK Define 2 used to reduce noise.

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You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.

The new varieties of hydrangea have stunning color and your use of a vignette emphasizes that. In this case the center placement works nicely. Very natural setting/composition as well.

Beautiful, Ray. I agree with Patricia, the center position works well with the shape of the flower, and the vignette puts more emphasis where it needs to be. I really like that the open blooms are around the edges, and all those buds in the middle. A great shot, for sure.

Ray this image sucessfully makes a very bold statement. The light, the color and the strong vignette look great, great job on the processing. Similar to @Shirley_Freeman, I love how the only open flowers are in the outer ring, that is a very unusual but interesting look. My only nit is that I wish the front and center flower was in sharper focus, but that would have required doing some focus stacking. Even with that minor issue, this is still a very strong and pleasing image, very nice work !!!

Thank you for your perspective.

Thank you, I appreciate your insights.

1 Like

Thanks Ed, I appreciate your comments.

Ray: This is a wonderful subject superbly captured and presented. Marvelous lighting on the buds and blooms. My only suggestion is with regard to the comp. I would prefer a bit more room on top and a bit less on the bottom. Tilting the camera up a few degrees would do the trick. :+1::+1:>=))>

Thank you for your comments.