Tulips (but, at this point, how will you know which ones...)

[Katy Noelle]

I'm feeling guilty because I haven't posted anything for a while. It's slim pickin's around here, at the moment but I'm still taking photos everyday. This is from a pot of tulips from the grocery store.

#1



#2



#3



#4 (The one that I really like because it has a soft quality to it.)



The first two are different photos but taken in the same light. I've had Dutch Masters on the brain... Three and four were taken in different light. What do you think, please.

[ScoutR]

Oh my, #3 and 4 are beautiful. They really need to be viewed in the lyte box.
#2 doesn't work for me at all, the flower is beautiful but it looks a little crowded
I like #1 too but I wonder about that leaf at the bottom and whether it would look better with it cropped or cloned out
#3 I just love for the textures in the petals, even though it has a lot of detail it is still soft and flowery looking if that makes sense. It looks soooo good against the black.
#4 I absolutely love also, this is my kind of shot but to me it does not look as good technically as #3. So I guess I'm saying I like the look but would like it better if there was a bit better focus or more DOF on the flower. I also think the composition is a bit crowded or unbalanced on this one. It looks cut off. I would love to see #3 on the light background. I don't know if you could do that in PP or not? I've tired similar things in Elements using the Replace Colour function and then selecting the background and lightening it. On some shots it works, but if there is too much of the same colour on the subject then it affects the whole shot. If you are able to do something like this on #4 it might also work to select the mauve in the background and lighten it a bit so there is not such a contrast in the 2 background colours.

All great shots Katy, but #3 is close to perfect to my eyes.

Wendy

[Katy Noelle]

Thanks, Wendy! Basically, that's exactly what I thought. (As I'm looking at it, again, the shadow on #3 does bug me, though.) Great minds, eh?

Wendy, do you mostly, generally use Elements?

[Vandenberg]

i like No1, think its the best composition
anyway, if you like flowers so much, why not visit Holland once
and go to http://www.youtube.com/keukenhof
http://www.youtube.com/keukenhof#p/a/u/2/siQwvYkRB9k

[Wirefox]

Very nice work Katy. A little bit of greenery to trim out with the clone/smudge brush ( I can't remember if you have PS or not) and the job 's a good 'un. Having just scrolled up again 1 and 2 may have a slight white balance issue. I think that may be why they are not quite as vibrant as the other two. That is nit picking though. Botanicals and rubber leopard print rubber gloves. You will have Rob on the next flight over if you are not careful

[ScoutR]

Wendy, do you mostly, generally use Elements?

I use Lightroom for RAW processing straigtening and cropping and then to Elements for Cloning, Sharpening, Noise Reduction, any other editing that I can't do or don't know how to do properly in Lightroom. I've bareley touched the surface on what can be done in either program. I also like Elements better for resizing but that might be because I got specific instructions for that process here at CiC. Lightroom probably works for resizing I just don't know how to do it properly without degrading the quality.

[Katy Noelle]

i like No1, think its the best composition
anyway, if you like flowers so much, why not visit Holland once
and go to http://www.youtube.com/keukenhof
http://www.youtube.com/keukenhof#p/a/u/2/siQwvYkRB9k

Thanks for the input! I think #1 looks like a painting but that really could be my imagination (I like that bottom leaf!)

I have a couple of very good blog friends from the Netherlands (who have gorgeous gardens). It keeps looking more and more beautiful, all of the time.

[Katy Noelle]

Very nice work Katy. A little bit of greenery to trim out with the clone/smudge brush ( I can't remember if you have PS or not) and the job 's a good 'un.

I do have PS, now. (I, also, have Elements6, now, too, but am too scared to go and try it.)

Having just scrolled up again 1 and 2 may have a slight white balance issue. I think that may be why they are not quite as vibrant as the other two.

I wondered about that (wb). I was, indeed, struggling to make them vibrant and that goes back to that PS/Elements thing. I'm still pp in iphoto - it's what I'm used to and I need to just settle down and figure it all out. It really feels like I'm starting all over from scratch. The trouble is, what I work on in "edit" in iphoto is not what it saves. I'm stuck somewhere between, I'm afraid.

Thanks, Wendy, for your answer.

That is nit picking though. Botanicals and rubber leopard print rubber gloves. You will have Rob on the next flight over if you are not careful

[cthermans]

My favorite is number 2. The flower is the star of the show. Elements is a great program and there are lots of free tutorials on the Internet that is how I learned many of the features in Photoshop and Elements. Well done.

[tameigh]

I like #2 as well. Sometimes people go crazy on the WB thing. I think the creaminess is a nice element and pure white would lose that. It's like strawberry shortcake.