Hide-and-seek & repost

This is an amazing photo, Gigi! Love the details of the hairs along the stems. Wonderful comp, great backlighting, nice splash of color from the flower on the dark BG. I love it!

Stunning image Gigi!!!! The backlighting makes the details of each hair glow in its light and the flower's color shine. The composition works well too.

Gigi:
This just brings a smile to my face - a good start to my day. You really give these poppies some personality. Well conceived and even better execution and capture.

I absolutely love this. Everything about it is exquisite. The curves, the lighting, the colors, all of it. So, so well done!

Great light and fine composition Gigi. Gorgeous...

pat

Very original and artistic. No suggestions from me. Super as is.

The back lighting really enhances the color of the flower. It also really accents the pattern of the stems.

Gigi, This is awesome. The backlighting is superb. As much as I love the backlit stem, my eye wanders back and forth between the blossom and the stem and can't decide where to light and stay. Gigi, I would suggest that you play with this image and come up with two versions. One in which the stem is the subject and the other in which the blossom is the subject. One possibility that might work would be to use a neutral gradient layer to partial darken the stem and/or the blossom.

A great shot.

Cheers,

Carol

Great light here.I love the image and your story behind it.

I think that Carol's advice is a good idea for breaking the antagonism between flower and stem. I tried with a neutral gradient layer and painting on its mask; a bit of more light in the poppy. What do you think about?
Thanks to all for the comments.

Gigi,

I certainly like the second version but I still prefer the first. I don't have any trouble recognizing the flower as the subject in it because of the color. The issue of subject in images is interesting to me in it's own right. In landscapes for instance, I can almost never clearly identify a distinct subject but I do expect the image elements to balance each other harmoniously. In your image the unifying theme for me is the light. The textural and color contrasts between the poppy and the stem just serve to make the poppy that much more interesting and vibrant to me. When you weaken the stem you also diminish the contrast that highlights the poppy. I think it comes down to what you expect to see in the composition and I think contrasting elements are underused in our images. My two cents.

pat

Wow The curly stems, all hairy and wonderfully backlight are just stunning. The rich red poppy is amazing as well. I'm in awe of this image, just thinking of the visualization process and the ability to execute it. Well done!

Gigi: Most excellent. Terrific DOF management and the back lighting is superb. Really well done.>=))>

The most charming of narratives, Gigi, told with light and colour. The silhouetted bud is a masterstroke in my view !

Wonderful rim lighting of the stalks and flower and bud. A striking image.

Congratulations for the WP.

Fabulous light, composition and the really nice feel of structure.
Congrats with the WP!
Herb

Many congratulations, Gigi, on the WP !!! A superb image.

Gigi:
Congrat on WP!

Both images are great. Congrats on the WP.

Wonderful images Gigi, and congratulations on the WP! :^)

Congrats on being selected for the WP, Gigi

Hi Gigi Congrats on a masterful work of art and winning the WP
Albert Darmo

Congrats on a nice WP!
Sandy

Gigi,

the backlighting of the flower, the hairy stem and the bud is gorgeous. The color of the flower and the golden hair is very nice with the black BG. The nice curve of the stem is very interesting.

Hee Chye