Just being....

[Daisy Mae]

This Aqualegia arrived in my garden so gently that I almost didn't notice it had flowered.

[bambleweeney]

A nice shot Sharon, I'm a big fan of monochrome flower images. Nice to see you've avoided the usual close up and gone for this composition. For me although I really do like the somber tones I would have liked to see just a little more light on the flower stems to lead the eye through the image and I would probably clone out the topmost bud (or a little gentle gardening and reshoot it), generally an odd number of elements in an image works better compositionally than an even number of elements. Somebody did explain why to me once with an involved description of how the human brain works and our evolution as human beings - 'odd better than even' is the only part I remember from that particular pub discussion
Nice though.

[Daisy Mae]

Thanks Paul. I plain ran out of light tonight so will have another look at the plant tommorow and shoot with your advice in mind.

[beckyhumphries]

Hi Sharon

This is a stunning picture. How did you manage to create the monochrome colour and shoot the picture if you don't mind me asking? (I'm still learning!).

Thanks, Rebecca

[Daisy Mae]

Thank you so much Rebecca ...of course I don't mind you asking, it's a pleasure.

I took the picture outdoors in natural light ( not that there was much of it!) at 5pm ..Canon 40D with 6omm lens at f 3.2 and there was lots of deeply shaded greenery behind it so took the results, bumped the shadows et voila..black background.

I then tweaked the lighting and effects in Nix siver effex pro.2 which is a lovely editing suite .

Cheers Sharon xx

[Carl in Louisiana]

Beautiful image and very nicely done. It is one of those that has me wondering what the inside of the flower looks like. Humm kind of like the old saying "leaves a little to the imagination". I love SEP2 and still learning how to use it....

[Digital]

Nice shot Sharon. The eye immediately goes to the main subject because it is the lighest.
One question: did you use a tripod for this shot? Bruce

[Daisy Mae]

Thanks Carl and Bruce.

Carl SEP2 is fantastic isn't it!

No tripod Bruce..it is in a rather densely populated area of my garden. Going to try again,,,might see what I can wrestle in to give me support.

[Donald]

For those folks talking about SEP2, you do know about the NIK Webinars and 'on demand' Video Tutorials, don't you? If not, they are a superb resource.

[Daisy Mae]

Good links there Donald.

[Mike Buckley]

This is such an evocative image that I wouldn't change the composition a bit. It's so good that I'd like to see the background reworked to achieve the same level of darkness throughout. It's almost the same but not quite, providing just a small amount of distraction.

[Carl in Louisiana]

Hey Sharon,
SEP2 is awesome. I have the complete collection for LR4 and love everything about it, especially the control points.

For those folks talking about SEP2, you do know about the NIK Webinars and 'on demand' Video Tutorials, don't you? If not, they are a superb resource.

Thanks Donald,
I watch them often and have learned a lot from them.

[Daisy Mae]

This is such an evocative image that I wouldn't change the composition a bit. It's so good that I'd like to see the background reworked to achieve the same level of darkness throughout. It's almost the same but not quite, providing just a small amount of distraction.

Thanks so much Mike.....I best get my specs on!