Anticipation

Gallery: Photo ArtPosted July 19, 201163 views9 comments

Maybe it's the heat, but I haven't felt very inspired lately. I did drive out to the Biltmore Estate, here in Asheville, NC, to see how their sunflower fields were coming along. They plant acres and acres of corn and then rows and rows of sunflowers along the edges that stretch on for about 1/2 mile if not longer.

Some sunflowers were in bloom but it will be another week of two before the mass of blooms reach their peak. I thought this one was interesting as it's just not quite ready. I also love the texture on the leaves.

I just wanted to see how this image would look with a texture overlay so I applied Ovid Banished from Flypaper Textures with a 93% opacity. I then darkened the edges using Color Efex Pro - Darken/Lighten Center.

Thoughts? Comments? All are greatly appreciated. Now it's back to the air conditioning to keep cool. Thanks for stopping by.

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Charlie Baugh on July 20, 2011 at 12:51 AM

Very nice to my eyes. I like the antiques look of this. Very 19th century.

Registered on April 18, 2011, 329 Posts, 1985 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Hyman on July 20, 2011 at 10:16 PM

Keep cool. Hot in Vegas too. I'll admit that texturing isn't my thing Barbara. And I would love to see the original. I would like to see the whole field of sunflower heads. It might be interesting.

Carol

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

Comment posted by Barbara Sammons on July 20, 2011 at 10:32 PM

Thanks Charlie. I'm actually very pleased with this look. Carol, here is the original image. I will have to wait a week or two and go back to the Biltmore and try to capture the rows and rows of sunflowers. I'll be sure to post what I see; it should be quite a sight. Thanks for stopping by to take a glance.

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

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on July 21, 2011 at 12:03 PM

The texturing gives this image a nice old-timey feel, but I have to admit to liking the repost better because there are so many interesting details in the blossom. I'd be tempted to crop the textured version so that it's less of a 50/50 split, but am less inclined to do that with the repost. Somehow in the repost, the blossom seems to occupy more of the image space. Yes definitely to keeping cool!

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

Comment posted by David W. Kelly on July 22, 2011 at 12:13 PM

The textured image kicks the meter way up on this image. Nice work Barbara.

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

Comment posted by Steve Balke on July 22, 2011 at 2:45 PM

I prefer the first poste image, Barbara. I agree that the texture really improves the original image. Also, the flower bud interior is pleasingly brighter. Unusual and very attractive.

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

Comment posted by Barbara Sammons on July 22, 2011 at 4:40 PM

Thanks to all for taking a look and your comments. This sunflower was just one of those flowers that I had to capture even though I wasn't sure how it would look, and I did take a bit of time to try different processing tools. I love all your comments and definitely take them to heart. Thanks again for viewing.

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

Comment posted by Ron Pederson on July 25, 2011 at 8:03 AM

Well seen and captured. For my taste, I prefer the original - I think because the texturing seems a bit too dominent and draws the eye away from the flower where there are interesting details.

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

Comment posted by Nancy de Flon on August 6, 2011 at 9:15 PM

I love photographing sunflowers too and I congratulate you on your creative way of doing something different with them--especially with one that hasn't bloomed yet. As Charlie said, it really does look like a painting. Beautiful.

Registered on June 28, 2010, 61 Posts, 284 Comments