Denise McKay
October 2026 - Mexican Tulip Poppy
Original
About the Image(s)
I was happy to discover this flower in the Arid House at our local botanical garden. The house is lit from natural light coming in large windows along the sides and a glass ceiling. Taken handheld with my 70-200mm macro lens at 200mm, f8, ISO 400, 1/400 sec.
After cropping in Lightroom Classic I removed a few spots and distractions, then used masks to darken and desaturate the greens in the background, brighten the flower, then increased texture, clarity, and contrast. I also added a slight vignette. In Photoshop I added a stroke around the edges.
I left some of the leaves in the background so I'm curious to see if others feel they enhance the image or detract from it.
2 comments posted
A beautiful capture of a tulip poppy. I like the contrasts depicted here - the contrast between the soft petals and the sharp stamen and pistils and between the bright, yellow petals and the dark, green leaves in the background. In this image, I prefer seeing the leaves. It works well when the subject is simple without a lot of details. Posted: 10/02/2026 12:52:11
Thanks for your feedback David! Posted: 10/05/2026 13:37:15