Nadia Trevan
April 2025 - Iris
Original
About the Image(s)
Iris. This iris flowered for a very short period of time and during some rain. Taken with Fuji TX3, 35mm prime lens, 1/125sec. f13, ISO 800. Camera raw adjustments and in photoshop removed the flower from its background. I then blurred the background, coloured it by using various photoshop brushes and picking up the colours in the photo, e.g. red and yellow from background, various purples and green in the flower and then overlayed two textures. Sharpened, cropped and added a border.
17 comments posted
Absolutely stunning! I love the background you've created and the flower is amazing. If I want to be really, really picky - I'm seeing a little part of the background on the right side of the Iris that looks a bit "rough". It's sort of a craquelure effect that is stronger there than on the left side. Posted: 04/06/2025 23:21:31
Thanks Marti for your input, always appreciated. I did pull the image up and can now see what you mean, it's the texture that I used and the stroke can easily removed. Posted: 04/20/2025 11:10:03
Please don't remove the stroke! I think it works great with the image. Posted: 04/20/2025 14:06:47
Marti, I mean remove the tiny craquelure effect that's in the texture that I used, one that is more obvious on the right hand side; not the stroke. Thanks for your feedback
Posted: 04/20/2025 23:51:20
Posted: 04/20/2025 23:51:20
Totally agree with Marti, the motion within the flower is marvelous with its folds and wraps. And again, you are the master of backgrounds doing all you can to enhance the beauty of the flower. Well done. Posted: 04/12/2025 17:44:25
Thank you Rich for your kind comments. Posted: 04/20/2025 11:10:34
Nadia, Rich said it perfectly, you are the master of custom backgrounds that enhance your flowers. I don't have any suggestions, other than to bring in your flowers for the winter.???? Posted: 04/13/2025 15:55:14
Hi Bob, thanks for your feedback, always appreciated. I've tried to photography as many flowers as I can. Heading into the Winter months, there won't be much around my garden to photograph. Posted: 04/20/2025 11:13:46
Also - your stroke just sets this image off wonderfully. Not big enough to be a border but enough to set it off from the black background of the page. Good job. Posted: 04/14/2025 17:18:20
I agree with the others! This is a beautiful iris and the background you have created set it off nicely. I especially like the water droplets! Posted: 04/17/2025 00:57:49
Thanks for your kind comments Ingrid. Posted: 04/20/2025 11:16:37
I always find your cutting out of flowers from the background & pasting them on new backgrounds amazing. Do you give lessons on how you do this?
One flaw for me is the brightness of the front blue petal. My eye keeps going back there. Kathleen Clemons said that the eye is drawn to most contrasty part of the image. So, not only is it the brightest, but it has the most contrast. Posted: 04/19/2025 18:24:18
One flaw for me is the brightness of the front blue petal. My eye keeps going back there. Kathleen Clemons said that the eye is drawn to most contrasty part of the image. So, not only is it the brightest, but it has the most contrast. Posted: 04/19/2025 18:24:18
Hi Doug, totally agree with you about the front blue petal. It was a sunny day and to be able to photograph the flower, I used my body to give some shade. I've used different methods to darken it but the output was not to my liking, I "burned" it a little and left it.
No, I don't give lessons, I think I would be hopeless at it as I get nervous and always miss steps because of my self consciousness. I use Bridge and then all my work is done in photoshop.
Doug, have a look at this YouTube tutorial. Although it talks about the Adamski effect, the first part of it is on how to cut a subject out from its background and in my view is the most simplest and effective way. Hope you find it useful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuVibZdLoIM
I use this method.
Posted: 04/20/2025 11:24:47
No, I don't give lessons, I think I would be hopeless at it as I get nervous and always miss steps because of my self consciousness. I use Bridge and then all my work is done in photoshop.
Doug, have a look at this YouTube tutorial. Although it talks about the Adamski effect, the first part of it is on how to cut a subject out from its background and in my view is the most simplest and effective way. Hope you find it useful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuVibZdLoIM
I use this method.
Posted: 04/20/2025 11:24:47
I'm going to disagree about the light petal. It sort of drags me into the whole image very quickly.
Thanks for the link...I would like to try it too. Posted: 04/20/2025 14:15:07
Thanks for the link...I would like to try it too. Posted: 04/20/2025 14:15:07
Marti, not sure how familiar you are with Photoshop, but just to let you know about what I do. Once she's cut out the subject you will notice that she creates a separate layer for the subject. At this point you can now place a texture below the subject. You can blur that texture using the Adamski technique, I always tone it down though as I find it too much. Posted: 04/20/2025 23:46:08
Thanks Nadia. Posted: 04/21/2025 00:02:21
Doug, please see my reply to Marti about the tutorial. Hope you find it useful. Posted: 04/21/2025 03:13:03