Nadia Trevan
July 2025 - Dahlia
Original
About the Image(s)
I decided to process this dahlia which I photographed some years ago. Hand held with my old Canon 7D, 100mm macro lens. 1/160 sec, f4.5, ISO 320. Camera raw adjustments and then in photoshop removed the flower from its background. I used impressionist brushes to paint the flower, blurred it, reduced the opacity and then transformed it into a larger layer to make the background. Added a texture used Nik software glamour glow and tonal contrast. Cropped into a square, sharpened it and added a border.
12 comments posted
The background is muted well and to me, sets off the flower. The stroke used confines my sight to the flower instead of wandering outside the frame. Very nice! Posted: 07/06/2025 05:14:58
Thanks Marti, appreciate your feedback Posted: 07/22/2025 11:08:38
Nadia, this is another beautiful job with picking the sample and doing a very good job with the creative edits. A great job with envisioning that the blue background needed to be edited and your unique way of accomplishing that. Nothing comes to mind on how I would edit it differently. A very nice job. Posted: 07/08/2025 00:50:15
Thanks Bob much appreciated. Posted: 07/22/2025 11:09:09
Love this and the original. Great background and beautifully rendered blossom. Wouldn't change a thing. Posted: 07/09/2025 17:17:11
Hi Rich, thank you for your encouraging comments. Posted: 07/22/2025 11:19:47
As usual, an amazing job of presenting the flower. I would make the stem more prominent; I think the flower floats a bit too much. Posted: 07/12/2025 22:43:21
Thanks Doug, you're right, the stem appears a bit lost.
Posted: 07/22/2025 11:10:24
Posted: 07/22/2025 11:10:24
Hi Nadia. I love dahlias and this is a particularly interesting one. The flower is in perfect focus, and the background you have created sets it off nicely. My only suggestions would be to lighten the stem so that it is more visible to reduce the 'floating' effect. I have to say that I think the original is also a great image. If you eliminated the blurred flower at the top and the horizontal leaf on the bottom, it would be a great portrayal of the dahlia in it's natural setting. Posted: 07/14/2025 16:24:39
Hi Ingrid, you're right, the stem does appear a bit dull and could be lighten up and saturated a bit more to add contrast to the yellow flower.
I do agree with you about the flower in its natural setting. I particularly like the yellow against the blue, but I just can't help myself in post processing! Posted: 07/22/2025 11:14:16
I do agree with you about the flower in its natural setting. I particularly like the yellow against the blue, but I just can't help myself in post processing! Posted: 07/22/2025 11:14:16
Hi Nadia,
Greetings my friend.
What an amazing capture and post processing.
You are the master of the background. I love the way you handle the background appropriately each time you submit.
Nothing to add.
Thank you for sharing.
Cheers.
Kamal.
Posted: 07/21/2025 12:15:56
Greetings my friend.
What an amazing capture and post processing.
You are the master of the background. I love the way you handle the background appropriately each time you submit.
Nothing to add.
Thank you for sharing.
Cheers.
Kamal.
Posted: 07/21/2025 12:15:56
Thank you for your thoughtful comments Kamal. Posted: 07/22/2025 11:15:42