Frank

Nice eye to catch this unique, yet simple and natural view….an excellent choice for POTW!

I am still  keeping this image on my desktop.  Woderful view and color!

Interesting approach, Anne.  Usually the foreground elements are in focus and the background in blur.   But, to me the most interesting parts of the image are the lines  of the overhead pipes and and curving pattern of the massive bridge structures.  The foreground roof has diagonal lines, but they add confusion for me.   My crop is extens…[Read more]

Here is the method I was using to separate the background from the flower.

Make a copy of the image (Command J) or unlock the background layer.

Open the Properties panel.( Goto Widows, then check Properties)In the properties panel scroll down to where it says “Other Actions” and click on “Select Subject”.  Often that will make a pretty good…[Read more]

Next time you are photographing close-up flowers like this one, here is a way to create a dark background in camera using an off camera flash.     With the camera on a tripod,  underexpose the flower so that it is barely visible in the LCD.  Hold the camera at a side angle or at any angle as if it were the direction of sunlight.   Expe…[Read more]

So, why not go the other way brighten the background to give it the backlighting effect? I also used a white brush. This is a nice effect one can achieve when shooting right into the sun with the flower in the foreground having the light come right through the petals.

I tried bringing down the brightness of the background with a curves adjustment,. but even if I brought it way down, the large blob of white continued to be too bright as you can see here.

Blurred and darkened background

Were they looking for meat or quills?

Interesting.  The B&W makes it look like the woman is looking through a doorway. In the color version it looks as though she is looking at a B&W photo in a frame..  Glad you got rid of the weird object on the right wall and you got rid of the glare in front of the man.  Both work, but sa different story with each version..

You have done nicely with the flower, but the background is hurting the image.  There is not enough contrast between the white of the flower and the bright background.  The big white blob on the right is also much too bright.   Look how much more the flower jumps out with detail if the background were darker.  (I just gave it a quick, not very…[Read more]

Whoops, I meant that the crop was on the right, the pink wall.

Ditto to the first two sentences of Ken’s remarks.  Then pay attention to the rest of Ken’s comments.  Somewhere I have an e-book Ken wrote on B&W photog. Also, click on Home, the Photo genres, then B&W for lots of good info on the subject.   Which reminds me.  Isn’t low key B&W the challenge of the week?!  BTW very handsome dog.

Wow that center looks great.  If you were using a tripod, you might try focus staking next time. Or, with macro, set your focus as best you can either auto or manual, but then move your body and camera slightly closer or maybe back up slightly to see if that focuses better.   In other words, just slightly sway your body back and then forward.  Als…[Read more]

I think there might be a little too much pink wall.   The only issue I see with Greg suggestion is cutting off too much of the curve of the rainbow which I really like.   I agree with Greg about there being just too much in the image.  But, the rainbow is my favorite part, but you might favor the wall.   You do solve the dilemma by just includ…[Read more]

“How to remove the wrong entries?”     Within a certain time frame after you have posted a photo or comment, look in the grey bar above your post where you see the date, and then notice on the right side the word “edit” appears before the word “reply”.   Click on Edit and that allows you to edit. To remove a photo, click delete or if that does…[Read more]

What a beautiful day and mountain scenery!

nice B+W, but the grass blocks out too much of the puddle.  Seeing more of the puddle would be interesting.

Gaussian blur with a soft light mode helped to darken the background in the tree area.

Wonderful petals and different hues of color of the flower, but the light is just too harsh, making the whites too blown out.  With full sun like this using a diffuser over the flower will make all the difference.