Karen Botvin
March 2025 - Camellia
About the Image(s)
This Camellia was shot in my neighbor’s yard in January of 2023. In FL, we have two kinds of Camellia’s, one that blooms late November to December, and one that blooms February-ish. This year has been fairly cold for FL. We are still getting temps down into the 40’s at night. At any rate, this was made with my Nikon Z7 with a 24-200mm lens at 175mm. The ISO was 640, f/6.3 at 1/50 sec. Not much was done in editing except to lower the highlights and increase the shadows ever so slightly. I love how the filtered light was coming in from behind and gives almost a wispy feeling to the leaves above. Comments always welcome.
4 comments posted
I love my camellias. The top flower center is very sharp. Other areas are a little soft. I think I may have tried to clone out the bright spots in the background and added more shadowing. Posted: 03/22/2025 23:29:51
Hi Karen,
I like the selective focus on the top flower and the softness of the other areas because they convey a painterly effect that I find soothing. I agree with Lori's comments if the intent is to present a crisp version of the single camellia. Posted: 03/24/2025 21:05:51
I like the selective focus on the top flower and the softness of the other areas because they convey a painterly effect that I find soothing. I agree with Lori's comments if the intent is to present a crisp version of the single camellia. Posted: 03/24/2025 21:05:51
Not many camellias grown around here. This is lovely. The stamens on the flower are tack sharp. I maybe would have cropped out the 2 buds at the top, or maybe softened them a little more. Posted: 03/25/2025 18:02:13
Hi Karen - for me the whole image needs to be soft. I feel that the section that is focused is too small in the frame, and this would work wonderfully if the whole image was like a soft watercolor. Some brush marks could also be added for effect. Posted: 03/25/2025 19:52:01