What’s Your Preference?

akshatrathi294 · #1 (**permalink**) 09-14-2007, 03:59 AM

I am unable to decide how to crop the photo. The background is distracting but if I try to crop that then I lose out on the beautiful petals. Suggestions please.

D40 · #2 (**permalink**) 09-14-2007, 04:42 AM

I would leaver the image the way it is
because you can tell your telling the viewer to focus on the flower
great pic by the way

matthewchj · #3 (**permalink**) 09-14-2007, 05:04 AM

Well you could paint over the background or something... I think black would make a good background here.

aadam_21 · #4 (**permalink**) 09-14-2007, 11:45 AM

This is a great shot - I think it's much better than the other macro you posted. Most of the flower is in crisp focus and the composition is pleasing. If you want to make the flower stand out more, like matthewchj said, you could paint the background. Or, if you wanted to maintain an outdoor look, you could apply a heavier blur to the background.

Nice shot of a beautiful flower!

akshatrathi294 · #5 (**permalink**) 09-14-2007, 01:01 PM

Thank you for the suggestions..

I could paint it black...that's a nice option...

How could I apply a heavier blur to the background?

aadam_21 · #6 (**permalink**) 09-14-2007, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akshatrathi294

How could I apply a heavier blur to the background?

My PP skills are nowhere near those of some here, but my first (possibly easier) approach would be to select the outline of the flower, invert the selection, then apply a gaussian blur.

You could also duplicate this picture as another layer, apply the blur to that entire layer, then erase the flower on the top layer so you see the crisp flower from underneath.

These are just a couple of quick edits and I'm sure there are at least a dozen other ways to accomplish something similar.

HSM · #7 (**permalink**) 09-14-2007, 06:45 PM

I think you captured the right amount of light (exposure) and composed it really good. I think a slight blur to the background and a small crop would do fine. If you cropped the right upper corner to meet the right pedal it could remove most of the background.

xxpinballxx · #8 (**permalink**) 09-14-2007, 07:01 PM

in CS just select the flower invert and then apply blur like this .....
I also desaturated the background a tad....

akshatrathi294 · #9 (**permalink**) 09-15-2007, 08:05 AM

Wow...nice job.
Thanks for taking the pain to do it. But I still haven't understood how you did it.
Could you explain in detail...I am an absolute beginner.