Red Hibiscus

[JBW]

I hoped to lower the bg clutter through pp. Not sure that I succeeded.
ISO 100 ~ Shutter Speed 1.6s ~ F/16 ~ Natural Light

[Manfred M]

I don;t think this shot is working as wel as you had hoped. Blurring the background can de-emphasize it, but won't necessarily eliminate the distractions. Here the distracting elements are softer, but still prominent enough to cause you problems. The biggest issue are the contrasty bright and dark areas that draw the viewer's eye from your subject.

Your idea might have worked better had the background been more uniform.

[JBW]

I don;t think this shot is working as wel as you had hoped. Blurring the background can de-emphasize it, but won't necessarily eliminate the distractions. Here the distracting elements are softer, but still prominent enough to cause you problems. The biggest issue are the contrasty bright and dark areas that draw the viewer's eye from your subject.

Your idea might have worked better had the background been more uniform.

I could go back to my roots and gloom and doom the bg

[JBW]

I don;t think this shot is working as wel as you had hoped. Blurring the background can de-emphasize it, but won't necessarily eliminate the distractions. Here the distracting elements are softer, but still prominent enough to cause you problems. The biggest issue are the contrasty bright and dark areas that draw the viewer's eye from your subject.

Your idea might have worked better had the background been more uniform.

I'll give you this one. Much moodier and jazzy

[Manfred M]

I'll give you this one. Much moodier and jazzy

Brian - I have no issues with moody lighting. In the past my criticism was with your exposure and the compressed tonal range. Your exposure and processing skills have improved; this image works well. I find it is more effective than the original.

[Geoff F]

Somewhere between those two extremes for me, Brian.

I would selectively tone down those overly bright highlights in the background, near the top, which seem rather bright even in the darkened image.

The flower itself has photographed well despite being a tricky exposure subject.

[JBW]

Somewhere between those two extremes for me, Brian.

I would selectively tone down those overly bright highlights in the background, near the top, which seem rather bright even in the darkened image.

The flower itself has photographed well despite being a tricky exposure subject.

I tried to lower those bright spots but they turned green

[JBW]

Brian - I have no issues with moody lighting. In the past my criticism was with your exposure and the compressed tonal range. Your exposure and processing skills have improved; this image works well. I find it is more effective than the original.

It does indeed.And it is a stronger shot.

[Shadowman]

Nice set, I like the moody version.

[JBW]

Nice set, I like the moody version.

Grumpy Diver suggested that a darker version would work better. Manfred was right.(this time)

[DanK]

I tried to lower those bright spots but they turned green

If you are using layers and your software has a luminance-only blend mode, try that. That should darken the area without changing the saturation of any of the color channels.

[Manfred M]

Manfred was right.(this time)

That has been known to happen...

[JBW]

If you are using layers and your software has a luminance-only blend mode, try that. That should darken the area without changing the saturation of any of the color channels.

It does and I will

[JBW]

I hoped to lower the bg clutter through pp. Not sure that I succeeded.
ISO 100 ~ Shutter Speed 1.6s ~ F/16 ~ Natural Light

I took it a wee bit further.