Moonflower

[LightandShadow]

They bloom as the sun sets and curl up and die as it rises. iPhone, slight crop, removed a few bugs from the white bloom, darkened the greens.

I try to do something different with my flower pictures than try to do a seed pack image.

[Rob Wood (Admin)]

This one isn’t loading for me, mate. Something go wrong? @lightandshadow

[Rob Wood (Admin)]

Oops, ignore me – it just didn’t load the first time but now I can see it.

It’s a unique composition, but I think works well to fill the frame. I consider a mask over the flower itself so you could work on the midterms and highlights a little more.

As a general comment, I would just try to use more of the spectrum of tones – keep an eye on your histogram in Lightroom to make sure it doesn’t pack up against the left or the right but spread it out as far as you can before it starts doing that. When you do that, does the image look more dynamic or not?

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Love the contrast between the white and the green Steve. Did you photograph the frame like this or crop a wider one? Would be nice to see more of the flower on the right and bottom and also a tad more contrast! 🙂
Is this commonly called the moonflower (Ipomoea alba)?

[LightandShadow]

Unedited version. DNG to jpeg conversion, no crop. Don’t know the scientific name bit Moonflower is all we have heard. 

[LightandShadow]

And the re-edit https://steve-walker.smugmug.com/Photos-X-Year-X-Month/2025/Sept-2025/i-RS35Tnq/A

One last edit. Any brighter and the whites lose texture on my monitor.

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Thank you for sharing the original photo Steve. I like both the edits too I think the flower will lose its soft texture and become too rough if edited more. I agree with Rob about the odd flipped over leaf on top.

[Rob Wood (Admin)]

I actually think both of those edits are solid improvements on the original. And choosing between them is probably more to do with personal taste. Well done.

[Rob Wood (Admin)]

I just realised the first one was actually the unedited original – dam that’s a pretty good straight out of camera shot.

[Rob Wood (Admin)]

Probably the only thing I would bring up is that reversed leaf at the top. Not sure what to do about it but I’d be trying to reduce its visual impact.

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