Mary Ann Carrasco
August 2026 - Sun Kiss
Original
About the Image(s)
While on the northern California coast recently we visited Mendocino Botanical Gardens. This particular garden was in bloom, colorful and beautiful. I caught the sunlight hitting this flower. I did some editing in camera raw and then overlayed one of my own texture images over it, adjusting opacity and fill. But I could see the gray fence in the lower right so had to edit that out. Then I went back into camera raw to adjust the background and edit more of the fence. I used the color picker to add some blush pink to the bud on the left of the flower. For the original image I used the Nikon Z9 with 28-400 lens, ISO 400, f/7.6, 1/160 at 165mm. I look forward to your comments and suggestions.
6 comments posted
Mary Ann, you continue to get great images with the 28-400 and have done such a good job in post emphasis my focus on the flower by blurring and lightening the background. I have to admit that I wouldn't have thought of lightening a background to bring out the subject. I find myself darkening it and adding a vignette. Thanks for showing me a new way to look at images. Posted: 08/07/2026 01:19:36
Mary Ann, beautiful shot. Well composed and I really like what you do with the texture overlays to soften flower photos. At first glance I thought the unopened bud behind the flower was distracting, but the more I looked at it, the more I actually liked it. Specially with the tiny drop of water. Nice job. Posted: 08/09/2026 20:58:23
Mary Ann, I like your editing on this flower photo. The blurring of the background and removal of the bottom blossom helps to focus my eye on the main flower and bud. The composition works well for me with the off-center placement of the flower. The effect of the overlaying texture is subtle, but effective. Pretty image! Posted: 08/16/2026 01:17:53
Mary Ann,
This is a lovely flower. Do you know its name? My eyes are not good enough to see the texture overlay, but I guess it has brightened the background. I like the little unopened bud by the side of the flower as it gives us more knowledge about this bloom. My one suggestion is to have put the flower a little more to the right in the one-third position. Nice work and I'm glad you visited the Mendocino gardens. Posted: 08/16/2026 17:12:34
This is a lovely flower. Do you know its name? My eyes are not good enough to see the texture overlay, but I guess it has brightened the background. I like the little unopened bud by the side of the flower as it gives us more knowledge about this bloom. My one suggestion is to have put the flower a little more to the right in the one-third position. Nice work and I'm glad you visited the Mendocino gardens. Posted: 08/16/2026 17:12:34
Hi Mary Ann,
The texture gives your flower a painterly look and it transforms it into a fine art. it also eliminate all the distracting elements.
I wish that there were a bit of separation between the bud and the flower but it's not a major distraction. Nice work! Posted: 08/18/2026 20:00:14
The texture gives your flower a painterly look and it transforms it into a fine art. it also eliminate all the distracting elements.
I wish that there were a bit of separation between the bud and the flower but it's not a major distraction. Nice work! Posted: 08/18/2026 20:00:14
Mary Ann,
This is a nice image of the flower. I like the crop and overlay you did on the image. The editing you did helped to bring the flower out and you made some thoughtful decisions regarding you choice in leaving the bud in the image. Posted: 08/20/2026 00:32:53
This is a nice image of the flower. I like the crop and overlay you did on the image. The editing you did helped to bring the flower out and you made some thoughtful decisions regarding you choice in leaving the bud in the image. Posted: 08/20/2026 00:32:53