Wild Iris

[ChrisH]

Seen in woodland near the River Wylie in Wilton.

[Manfred M]

While the iris is your subject, I find the shot to be very busy with a lot of distracting elements. The bright board in the foreground and the random leaves at the bottom right draw too much attention away from the subject. These are considerations to avoid while shooting, if possible. Otherwise, you need to clean them up in post-processing.

[DanK]

I'd also suggest carrying a small, collapsable diffuser. The lighting is very harsh.

[ChrisH]

Thank you Gentlemen. I will have a go and see what can be done.

[ChrisH]

Here is my attempt of editing in line with the suggestions made. I am not convinced that I have got the fence board quite right but run out of time.

[MrB]

Lovely flower, Chris, but I think if it were mine I would crop to remove the fence and to make a narrower image, and also darken the bright OOF background leaves at the top.

Cheers.
Philip

[DanK]

Chris,

I looked this morning to see if the particular diffusers I use is still available, but I couldn't find it. Mine folds into a very small packet and opens up to perhaps 18" across. I'm away from home and forgot to pack it, so I can't tell you exactly. However, if you look, you'll see that the main issues are that most of them are larger than you need, and many come packaged with reflectors.

Two that are somewhat similar to what I have are these. I know you are in the UK, but these are illustrative.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/42088-REG/Photoflex_DL_1122WT_LiteDisc_Circular_Reflector_Wh ite.html

Dan

[Martin A]

Dan

Your link was formatted incorrectly and would not work. Here is the corrected link:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...tor_White.html

Martin

[ChrisH]

Here now is my final attempt. I have tried to take on board all your comments and would welcome your thoughts on what I think is an improvement.

[MrB]

I agree, Chris - an improvement in my view also.

Cheers.
Philip

[DanK]

I agree. Much improved. It still has a problem with harsh lighting. You can lessen this with dodging and burning, but at least with my level of skills, it's not possible to fully make up for this. I did just the flower in this quick-and-dirty edit, but I would go over the entire image this way, e.g., darkening the voreground front left.