PLB-SideSpiky_IMG_5577ivFPC-DPC.jpg
by GeneralE

Comment by pcody:
This is a lovely photo and after you get the post processing done as suggested, I think it would be a pretty print. Imo, it looks oversharpened, but I seem to be overly sensitive about that and part of it could be how you processed the picture before you sharpened it.

Searching For Signs Of Intelligent Life...
by GeneralE

Comment by Jutilda:
Love the unusual golden tones. You're used to seeing so much blue or gray with clouds - this is a lovely different approach!

San Francisco's Golden Gate
by GeneralE

Comment by Jutilda:
Love the depth of color. Very nice shot!

PLB-SideSpiky_IMG_5577ivFPC-DPC.jpg
by GeneralE

Comment by scalvert:
This is the best of the bunch, and I like it for its simplicity. As others have said, there's a little more PS work to do- use "Select Color Range" to get all your blues. I'd crop it much more and maybe rotate to the right a bit to put the butterfly at upper left. Then upload away!

PLB-SideDown_IMG_5571-FPC-DPC.jpg
by GeneralE

Comment by SJCarter:
I agree with nico that a closer crop here would work very well. I love the shot & the background, but there could probably be less of it and still convey the feeling of "lots" of flowers. The detail on the butterfly is great. You should try to capitalize on that with a closer crop. The colors and composition are otherwise great. I like it a lot.

PLB-SideSpiky_IMG_5577ivFPC-DPC.jpg
by GeneralE

Comment by SJCarter:
I think this has some wonderful color & the composition is good, but it's almost "too much". I'm not sure what exactly it is that bothers me about the shot, but I think it's that everything is too harshly bright. Like nico said, I agree that the bottom right leaf should be cropped and you might even zoom in some more. All in all, still a nice shot though...

PLB-Sideview_IMG_5569iFPC-DPC.jpg
by GeneralE

Comment by SJCarter:
Magnificent colors. I think the composition is a little busy, but with some additional cropping & perhaps a little dodge & burn, I think you'll easily have a masterpiece.

PLB-Pair_IMG_5580-FPC-DPC.jpg
by GeneralE

Comment by SJCarter:
I really like this shot. One thing that bothers me is the harshness of the light from the right. It seems to wash out the butterfly on the right and some of the flowers. The composition is great and I personally LOVE purple! I think you could probably even turn up the color saturation a bit. Very nice shot. I also like the fact that you've blurred out the background - it's appropriate in this setting.

Message edited by author 2005-06-11 23:43:21.

PLB-SideSpiky_IMG_5577ivFPC-DPC.jpg
by GeneralE

Comment by nico_blue:
i think you should clone out the green leaf in the bottom left, also how come just under the butterfly between its legs the sky looks a lighter/different shade of blue? poor editing? actually im noticing you have the same thing going on in parts of the plant, especially near the bottom. I dont know if this will work in you case but instead of selecting objects which is painful and takes ages use "selective color". If you dont use photoshop just ingore the rest of what i say. If I am imagining your original photo correctly I would say go to selective color and then the cyan channel. Boost the cyan to +50, Magenta to around +25 and yellows to +100, and black to +25, and play around with the blue channel in the same way. Play around with the numbers. i think that might be an easier way to do what you were trying to do.

PLB-Sideview_IMG_5569iFPC-DPC.jpg
by GeneralE

Comment by nico_blue:
i think this one needs cropping or cloning to simplify the compostion. the green leaves coming into and leaving the frame are too distracting and take away from the photo imo.