[nichpr]

A crabapple variety called Red Splendor is in full bloom by my front door. Took Charlotte's, Fi's and Rob's advice regarding the border. Looking forward to your comments.
- Paul

[chickadee]

definately dont do it for me .... to me i think it would have to be a paler or lighter shade of pink... sorry.. each to their own .. think it comes back down to personal choices .Whereas to me i wouldnt want the border to take away the focus on flowers , i would rather the border act as a compliment to the actual image .Also seems to be blue patches in top left corner going across top to right side, is this from editing, its only just noticeable.
Love the colours on flowers ,great shot

[nichpr]

You are right, of course - the border/framing should enhance and not overpower the photo. I lowered the opacity of the border layer - better?

Now, about the photo itself...........?

[Rosegold]

Hi Paul,

I think it's a lovely colour and I like the point of view and your subdued border. If I was going to be picky, and it seems I am, just for something to say I'd think about getting rid of the leaf at the front, it doesn't spoil the shot or anything, it's just maybe a little big for the smaller flowers?

[chickadee]

that i think is heaps better, as you say it enhances the image ,again just personal preference

[kristen6877]

Love the colors....

[Rob Barron]

I love this, I like the original border and I like the sense of completion the final leaf gives so I wouldn't change the original. I am afraid I haven't got a clue what the blue patches are that Sue is seeing, they are not showing on my monitor.

I think this works really nicely so am happy just as it is (the muted border is so mute it is pointless, it isn't doing anything any more). Maybe the red is a touch over saturated in the picture itself or it could be just the contrast is a bit high. Other than that I like it.

My only negative point would be this Paul: you have shown several pictures of flora and you are tending to opt for the same format each time, i.e. black background, diagonal positioning, clean lines....

Nothing wrong with that as the images are attractive but if this was an exhibition, people would be bored stiff after the first few. Perhaps time to get adventurous and see about some different compositions, more complementary coloured backgrounds, etc? Go on, get radical <g>

Cheers,
Rob

[nichpr]

Thanks Rob. I appreciate your comments.

In looking back thru my gallery, I see that I have taken and shown 6 or 7 shots like this. Some were done in the field and some indoors. I've learned something new with each one - staging, execution and post processing. Even with chickadee's comment about the blue - I really had to look hard but eventually found what she was talking about and learned that I need to do a very close final quality control inspection before I post or publish.
The last couple were my first efforts in Raw format vs Jpeg for the earlier ones. That too offered a learning opportunity. While I like this format, feel pretty comfortable with it, and will do more as the opportunity and subjects present themselves, I recognise that I can still improve upon it - different backgrounds etc.

So, again, thanks for your kind words and encouragment to experiment and grow.

[chickadee]

Originally Posted by Rob Barron

I am afraid I haven't got a clue what the blue patches are that Sue is seeing, they are not showing on my monitor.

Cheers,
Rob

Rob ,its only on the first image ,i see bit of blue in left top going across to right . The second image i can not see any blue in that area ,thats what makes me think it must of been through the photo editing stage

[Sonsey]

Originally Posted by chickadee

its only on the first image ,i see bit of blue in left top going across to right.

Originally Posted by Rob Barron

I am afraid I haven't got a clue what the blue patches are that Sue is seeing, they are not showing on my monitor.

The blue patch isn't showing on my monitor either.