Waterdrops On A Rose

[NikonUser]

Hi there,

I thought I would try something different today. I'm not sure if I like the results or not.

Any comments?







Paul

EDIT:

After discussion below I've also come up with these two variations... I'll post them here as well as below so you don't have to scroll all the way down if you don't want to

[Alpha_7]

I think the third one works, and works well, the 1st one almost works and the 2nd one doesn't work at all. I'm not sure I can give you a techinical explaination on why... but looking at them, that's how I rate them.

[NikonUser]

That pretty much mirrors my thoughts... The last one is the only one I like but I'm not sure what it is about the others that I don't like...

Am hoping someone here can tell me

Paul

[rokkstar]

Third one for me too.
I think the reason, or at least one of the reasons, is that there is a seperation between the rose and the drop - they are distincly different parts combining to give the overall effect. THe contrast isnt there on the first two.

[Aussie Dave]

Hi Paul
good to see you trying something different.

My take on this:
I like the 3rd the most (like everyone else). I feel that the first two have too much going on and the main focal point of the image doesn't "pull" your eye to it, so you end up wandering around the red expanse of the image. The 3rd photo leads your eye down the petal to the water droplet.

That's my theory anyway

I've noticed that when shooting red flowers (or anything red), with the D70, you really need to be careful in PP - as red has a tendancy to look oversaturated, straight out of the camera....I think due to the CCD's sensitivity to the red spectrum.

I find that when I have this much red in the photo, I desaturate the red channel somewhat to bring some more detail back into play (if possible).

Keep on experimenting though....

[NikonUser]

I did notice how easy it was for the red to become oversaturated in PP... I will try a little desaturation to see what happens.

Paul

[NikonUser]

Found another one where the light is a little different to the original. It is still fairly busy (the same as the first in fact) but the different position of the SB800 brought out some shadows in the waterdrop.

Better? Worse? Just As Bad?



Original:



Paul

[Mal]

IMHO I think the idea is there, but the red is just too powerful. The last in the first group sort of works.
I think that having the two objects to focus on makes it hard ot focus on either.
Maybe to make the water droplet work it needs to be falling off the petal.

[Aussie Dave]

I'm not sure what it would look like, but how about trying it in B&W...or making the flower B&W and keeping the droplet in colour (or perhaps slightly desaturate the droplet) ???

it might take the effect of the overpowering red "out of play"...

[Alpha_7]

I did a quick convert to grey-scale, and I liked the affect, you could feel the texture a lot more.

[NikonUser]

[drifter]

Those last two look great .I like the effect .

[big pix]

Now they are starting to look a little creative.........nice

[sirhc55]

The last modification is a stand out - well done

[Aussie Dave]

nice one Paul....now it's looking fantastic !

[Alpha_7]

You've developed this idea into a really nice artwork... it almost suggests to me that the rose has drying out and the last concentrated essence of the flower is left in a single drop.

Great stuff!

[NikonUser]

Thanks for the positive feedback guys.

This is really the first time I've delved into the more creative side of post processing. It's certainly something that I've always been interested in but I don't usually have the imagination and creativity to pull it off... It was your suggestions that turned these images around (Damn my technical/non-creative mind!!)

Anyway. I'm glad you like the results. Will see what they look like printed out tomorrow. Maybe I can turn them into some greeting cards or something.

Paul

[Aussie Dave]

sometimes it's refreshing to just pick a favourite photo out of your archives and just mess around with it. Start using all those filters and PS functions that you never look at....there is some amazing stuff that can happen when you do this, and in the future when you see a photo like the one you posted, you can begin to see the PP'd image in your head before you even start...

As post-processing can be/is an important part of a successful photo, one should try to improve their abilities on the PC, not just with the camera...IMO

You have actually inspired me to do something I'd thought about a while back, but never got around to doing....stay tuned, I will post very soon !

[marcotrov]

The last one is on the money. Terrific shot that really treats the eyes and senses, selective focus, sharpness at that point and colour contrast and composition spot on. That's why it works
Cheers
marco