Sometimes I find my best subjects at Home Depot or the supermarket!! I like what you did. I think the colors are great and you achieved a nice painterly effect on the flower. I know you blurred the background, but I find it slightly distracting. I think it is the contrast of the dark against the green. It just seems busy to me. I am not sure there is anything you can really do about it though.   Posted: 02/05/2021 08:15:19

Just the thing for winter. It is nice and bright. I think that your hardware-software combination worked very well. The flower was so attractive that I didn't sense the background until I read Jessica's comments. To me it is OK as it sort of matches the petals and the flower itself captures and retains my interest. If you can blur the background a little bit, perhaps it is possible to blur it more, or if the blurring damages the flower, perhaps try darkening it a bit?   Posted: 02/05/2021 15:11:00

Nice picture great colors   Posted: 02/07/2021 17:38:45

A striking image under the circumstances! Under different circumstances I suspect you would have shot with a smaller aperture to bring into sharper focus the pedal of the flower. But that's not to diminish the overall high impact of the picture. Very, very nice, Judy.   Posted: 02/09/2021 09:42:46

A striking image under the circumstances! Under different circumstances I suspect you would have shot with a smaller aperture to bring into sharper focus the pedal of the flower. But that's not to diminish the overall high impact of the picture. Very, very nice, Judy.   Posted: 02/09/2021 09:42:46

I know if my camera club were to look at this they would say to blur or remove the background. On the other hand, it doesn't bother me. I do like the smudge effect you used on this image.   Posted: 02/09/2021 15:29:34

This is a beautiful image, and I don't mind the background leaves, one way or the other.

My home group 32 is a monochrome group, so I am always looking for images that might convert well to monochrome, so I tried the following, adjusting colors individually as they convert to monochrome. That is why the green leaves are almost entirely gone in my conversion.   Posted: 02/11/2021 17:34:35

Visiting from 48 & 80
This flower is so sharp it leaves you unlimited opportunities to play with the options. It is lovely as it is and I certainly like Steve's suggestion. I would like to suggest that you also try to play with textures altering the background. I did try to create a suggestion for you; but, when I tried to retrieve it to post, it disappeared and I just don't have the time right now to redo the whole thing. If you'd like further information on working with textures, take a look at Marie Altenburg's website, mariealtenburg.com. It's a treasure trove.   Posted: 02/14/2021 16:33:45

That webinar was fabulous   Posted: 02/15/2021 06:27:40

I apologize for the late comments. Lovely photo with vibrant colors, very sharp detail in the main subject and out of focus back ground, no distractions and holds my attention. Thanks for the submission.   Posted: 02/20/2021 18:56:46