Sizzlin' Orange-Challeng

Gallery: Photo ArtPosted July 1, 2011279 views11 comments

I’m very excited about the July challenge and hope everyone is as well. It’s great to see the finished image, but it’s also a good learning experience to see how the image started.

Here’s my first entry to the July challenge. I have these lovely orange tree roses in my yard and snapped a few pics the other day. As you can see from the original image, nothing to write home about so I just filed them away. Then I took another look today to see if I could enhance them by using texture overlays. Here was my processing.

I normally do not crop an image until near the end of processing, but I knew it would be better to crop the image before any other work was done. First step was to crop the image. Next, using Silver Efex Pro 2, I removed the color from the original image and then added a Control Point to the rose and small leaves to pull out just those colors. Then came the overlay of Apple Blush (from Flypaper Textures), blending mode of Multiply at 100%. Then another overlay called Pantheon Stone (from Flypaper Textures), blending mode of Soft Light at 55%. The rose needed to be brighter so using Color Efex Pro and the Darken/Lighten Center feature, I was able to place the center point on the rose and brighten it. One last bit of crop and I was finished.

Did I spend too much time on this image? Maybe, but it’s all a learning process. Here’s to a great month of challenges. Happy and safe Fourth to all my photography friends.

Comments, thoughts?

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Barbara Sammons on July 1, 2011 at 7:09 AM

Here is the original image.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 109 Posts, 323 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on July 1, 2011 at 1:41 PM

Really well done. The result is worth the time and effort, in my opinion.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by David W. Kelly on July 2, 2011 at 11:27 AM

I really like the crop you are using and the texture really gives this image a nice artistic quality.

Registered on October 7, 2005, 883 Posts, 6590 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on July 3, 2011 at 11:18 AM

I think your treatment works very well. I would suggest cropping about the top 1/4 of the frame, for me that reduces the distraction of the bud and emphasizes the shape and texture of the rose.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Sammons on July 4, 2011 at 7:04 AM

Hi all, thanks for viewing and your comments. Mark, thanks for your suggestion. I cropped the top portion of the image to see how that might make a difference. I like both versions. Thoughts? Comments?

Registered on September 20, 2009, 109 Posts, 323 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Pederson on July 4, 2011 at 8:05 AM

Nice result, Barbara. I think the original crop is fine, it adds some depth, and the desaturated coloring works well.

Registered on October 19, 2010, 95 Posts, 470 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on July 4, 2011 at 5:33 PM

Both the original and the repost look great to me, Barbara. However, I do prefer the original just a bit more I think: it's nice to see the whole bud in the bg. I think it's quite startling to see the difference between your Photo Art result and the original: such a wonderful improvement over the original.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Hyman on July 5, 2011 at 2:21 PM

Barbara, In this case I find the background even more interesting than the flower. I would love to see you create a mask and very lightly remove some of the texturing from the flower. I think it would add even more interest to the image.

Sincerely,

Carol

Registered on January 18, 2007, 597 Posts, 8062 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Sammons on July 5, 2011 at 10:44 PM

Carol, thanks for the suggestion. I'll give it a try and see how that might work out. Thanks for viewing.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 109 Posts, 323 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Sammons on July 7, 2011 at 4:38 PM

Just saw the Weekly Picks and wanted to say "thanks" for the nod this week. I appreciate everyone's comments as I continue on this journey. And all my best to all the Weekly Picks.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 109 Posts, 323 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on July 14, 2011 at 2:59 AM

Wonderful shot, and intersting thread too -
(belated) congrats on the WP!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments