Oliver Morton  


Lotus Bud and Blossom by Oliver Morton

January 2021 - Lotus Bud and Blossom

January 2021 - Oliver Morton

Original

About the Image(s)

This image was made about four years ago in Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Washington D.C. Usually, I try to make my flower pictures unique by using an unusual angle or lighting. And normally I wouldn’t have bothered with this photograph except I like the fact that the lotus bud and blossom are side-by-side.

My processing was done in Photoshop and Camera Raw. I darkened and blurred the background and also played with the texture, lighting, and saturation of the flower and bud. Since the background is quite dark and would be difficult to distinguish from our study group’s background, I added a subtle border.

Data: Canon 5D4; 100-400mm lens @ 153mm; 1/400 sec; f/8; ISO 100; Spot metering


This round’s discussion is now closed!
12 comments posted




Barbara E Miller   Barbara E Miller
Somehow Pete his composition jars me; it is indeed a lovely showing of the flower and the bud but for some reason I want the flower to overpower the bud; being so tall it comes off as being dominant. Perhaps if the bud had been farther back behind the flower????!!! Take heart Pete I'm sure the others will be much less negative.   Posted: 01/02/2021 12:15:30
Oliver Morton   Oliver Morton
Ahhhh, I consider all input useful! Your opinion is in total agreement with my wife's. (Although her comments weren't as "graceful" as yours. lol)

It's always too to hear honesty! So, THANK YOU!

  Posted: 01/02/2021 12:26:49



David Price   David Price
When I fist looked at the image the first thing that drew my attention was the light area at the top right and the light areas to the left of the stalk of the bud. Until I read Barbara's comment I didn't see that the bud overpowered the flower but I do agree with that comment. I cannot help myself playing with images whether mine or others and so I selected the flower and stem then blurred everything else. I then got rid of the light areas and finally I used content aware crop to put the flower higher up the frame. I was to lazy to recreate the border.   Posted: 01/03/2021 06:24:21
Comment Image
Jamie Federick   Jamie Federick
(Group 48)
I really like what you have done here David. Interesting subject for sure.   Posted: 01/08/2021 10:32:05
Oliver Morton   Oliver Morton
Thank you, David. The idea of blurring the flower bud never occurred to me. I keep looking at your rendition of the photograph and, the more I look, the more it's growing on me. Thank you for the idea!
  Posted: 01/18/2021 15:39:58



Freddie Kelvin   Freddie Kelvin
(Group 79)
Love this. My only thought is that maybe the bud could be separated more from the flower?   Posted: 01/03/2021 13:36:32
Oliver Morton   Oliver Morton
Thank you, Freddie. The idea of additional separation is interesting. I'm not 100% sure that it works. Your thoughts?

  Posted: 01/03/2021 13:56:15
Comment Image



Freddie Kelvin   Freddie Kelvin
(Group 79)
Hi Oliver,I'm no expert but I think that it works, especially if you can increase the height of the image, for example-to its previous aspect ratio?   Posted: 01/04/2021 13:24:45
Oliver Morton   Oliver Morton
I'll give it a try. Thank you, Freddie!   Posted: 01/06/2021 17:43:39



 
Pete,
I really love the quality of the light in this photograph. The colors are beautiful and the flowers are tack sharp. The background treatment is excellent, in my view. It also contains a few muted echoes of the colors in the foreground. I think that the compositional issues mentioned may stem (no pun intended) from the even number of main subjects. Odd numbers are supposed to be more pleasing to the eye. That may be true in this case.   Posted: 01/04/2021 21:05:49
Oliver Morton   Oliver Morton
Mark, I agree that having an odd number of subjects would have been an improvement. Sadly, there were only two of them when I took the photograph. Sometimes it's hard to get nature to cooperate. lol   Posted: 01/06/2021 17:48:39



 
The image is nicely lit. I don't mind the bud being taller than the rose. Thats Nature. I would darken and blur the bright spots which interfere with the main subject of the image, as David has suggested.   Posted: 01/10/2021 12:06:02