Denise McKay
December 2025 - Windflower
Original
About the Image(s)
This was taken at the Chicago Botanic Garden in August. Natural light, natural background, hand held.
Settings were: ISO 200, 150 mm, f 4, 1/160 sec. I post processed in Lightroom Classic as follows: Cropped a bit, removed the flower on the right in the background, removed some small spots on petals, used masks on the center of the flower to bring out more of the detail and lighten just a bit. Used masks on brighter parts of the background bokeh to reduce highlights and then opened up the shadows in the dark area at the bottom left.
I was mostly concerned about getting the center of the flower in focus and not worried about the buds that went soft. I love these delicate flowers with their detailed centers.
4 comments posted
A beautiful image! And, a detailed and informative explanation of your post processing workflow. The yellow stamen being the brightest object in the image is the only object that needs to be in focus...and it is tack sharp. It was also a good decision to remove the background flower as it was a little distracting. Posted: 12/01/2025 21:41:52
Thanks for your comments David! Posted: 12/02/2025 20:44:52
Lovely composition of the wildflower. Your selective focus of the yellow stamen against the softer background creates a dreamy, peaceful image. The bokeh adds interest. I like it. Posted: 12/06/2025 15:36:41
Thanks so much Barbara! Posted: 12/11/2025 18:19:50