#31 re-open

jwear

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I just love these dgrin things -rules but only for a few .I will try to make 146.25:dunno

jeffmeyers

jwear wrote:

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Your file of 146.5 KB bytes exceeds the forum's limit of 146.5 KB for this filetype.
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I just love these dgrin things -rules but only for a few .I will try to make 146.25<img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/ne_nau.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" >

Don't degrade the image so. Feel free to make it 146.49 KB. :davidto

jwear

jeffmeyers wrote:

Don't degrade the image so. Feel free to make it 146.49 KB. :davidto

thank you , I just took the bee outside and had it fly around for 1/2 hr. and now the image has lost a litle

jwear

ok here I go again

sorry will re-open June 2010

whiterice

Hi jwear. I don't really know enough about macro photog to offer input on the technicals. However, I will say that this is a clever take on the theme. I do like composition, but I admit that the OOF blue flower bothers me just a tad. In general I don't mind OOF. But here it's because the flower is so big and such a different color than everything else in the image that I find it distracting.

I'll sit back now and let the experts comment. :lurk

Tango

oh what a great catch, Bees have always challenged me to the point of yelling...

my only opinion here is to try a different crop, if it were me I would go for a portrait crop, cutting out the right side, especially the green leaf that is on the right side of frame currently.

Tango

and IMO it seems that the flowers are still open for business... so why say "sorry - will reopen" as if to come back later?

Katmitchell

Hi Jeff,

I like your take on the theme here... I see "closed for business" When I look at the bee and the closed flora. I wish the blue flower was not so close to the bee, otherwise I would suggest crop up to above the blue flower and just leave the bee and the closed bud, and I think that would nail it.. However, I am not sure if that crop would work... Maybe try it out and see.. I am not sure of the resolution your working with here..


So I say, try the crop without the blue flower.. It is a gorgeous shot, but that blur on the flower and its placement of being "front" and center does tend to distract from and dominate the composition.

Nice shot and awesome skill..

Kat


ok EDIT HERE : After leaving your thread I went over to ( lizzard_nyc ) thread and whoa.. She has an idea possibly for the same title I suggested here on your shot.. I had not seen her post before I made the suggestion, so I take the title suggestion back.. HA... Especially in the context she is thinking of using it ..OMGOSH..... I dunno.. I am trying to think of creative titles for the bee and the bud... Perhaps others can chime in with ideas too...

kds1

Hi Jeff,

I love the clarity of your bee! That and the sharpness of the bud it is next to are great. I do agree with the others, though that the open blue OOF blossom confuses the issue. I had to study it for a while to figure out how the total image would go with an Open/Closed theme. That could be just my fuzzy thinking, though! But when I read some of the other suggestions to perhaps crop out the blue flower, I realized that it would have been much more clear how it fit into Open/closed without the blue flower.

Gorgeous bee!

Kara

dlplumer

Very cool creative shot Jeff.

The Curious Camel

What about a crop across the top third of the shot cutting out the other opened blossom.
I love it BTW.

g

jwear

When you all are right you are right. I looked at the flower also but cloned it out in my mind not the shot, that was so much easier. My PS skills are lets say lacking.
Thank you all for the feed back and because of that I did labor thru the shot. Always finish what you start but in my PS stupidity I did all this work to the save for web version not the original, what an --- I will blame this on old age and the computer -It is not my fault
So what do you think of this version lets call it --my mind was closed ,I should never have stopped drinking :cry

The Curious Camel

I think your really getting there. Now if you could just clone the out of focus part of the stem over the part you cloned in detail it would blend in better..

kds1

I think this looks much better. It makes the Open/Closed really fit. And I love how the bee's abdomen is just glowing!

Katmitchell

Hey Jeff,

That is much improved... Gail is right though, the blur on the stem stands out a bit much... Are you cloning or using masks and layers? I would suggest using a mask and a copy of this image as a second layer and mask in over that stem a piece of the stem from another part of the picture that is in good focus..

Or crop it out just to see what it would look like leaving only the bee and the bud..:D


Kat

JAG

This is a really cool image Jeff. If it were mine...I would definately try a 2:1 ratio crop. Seems that it would still leave one empty and one closed bud...plus the wonderful bokeh behind the bee to show his arrival. JMO.

Edit....I realized you cropped on your second image. I would think the first one cropped at 2:1 would give better space...imo.

jwear

kds1 wrote:

I think this looks much better. It makes the Open/Closed really fit. And I love how the bee's abdomen is just glowing!

that is what made me think of a title on this shot ,thanks

jwear

Katmitchell wrote:

Hey Jeff,

That is much improved... Gail is right though, the blur on the stem stands out a bit much... Are you cloning or using masks and layers? I would suggest using a mask and a copy of this image as a second layer and mask in over that stem a piece of the stem from another part of the picture that is in good focus..

Or crop it out just to see what it would look like leaving only the bee and the bud..:D


I tried layers even with book in hand but :cry :nah Why is it that all PS help books leave out step 3
Again you all are right but cloning that much just did not work well and the crop I did not like too much. This was shot with a 300 lens so there is only so much detail. I ask the bee for a re-shoot ---told me to buzzzz off

thanks again for feedback but wildlife shots are tough to get and you only get 1 shot at it most of the time. Back to the outdoors I will not miss this computer or PS :ivar

The Curious Camel

jwear wrote:

Katmitchell wrote:

Hey Jeff,

That is much improved... Gail is right though, the blur on the stem stands out a bit much... Are you cloning or using masks and layers? I would suggest using a mask and a copy of this image as a second layer and mask in over that stem a piece of the stem from another part of the picture that is in good focus..

Or crop it out just to see what it would look like leaving only the bee and the bud..:D


I tried layers even with book in hand but :cry :nah Why is it that all PS help books leave out step 3
Again you all are right but cloning that much just did not work well and the crop I did not like too much. This was shot with a 300 lens so there is only so much detail. I ask the bee for a re-shoot ---told me to buzzzz off

thanks again for feedback but wildlife shots are tough to get and you only get 1 shot at it most of the time. Back to the outdoors I will not miss this computer or PS :ivar

Oh Jeff don't get discouraged that small part of the stem is an easy fix. I could never find step 3 either so most of the time I have learned out of necessity. Have you ever tried the patch tool? You might be able to get it good enough with that. If you need help just post it to us and someone will help. I think this shot is really worthy for another try.

There are so many folks here that know so many ways to help you just wait and they'll chime in. I am just suggesting things I might try. Why didn't you like the crop? Why don't you show it to us? You still can keep shooting when you get the opportunity. I don't even have an entry myself yet and don't know if I will but I love seeing all the works everyone has pending. Oh gosh this is such an awesome community. I just love it here.

I hope that I helped in some small way.

g

Katmitchell

What? you mean you don't miss the photoshop, aw come on...lol

I wondered about the crop, but at least you gave it a try...

Seriously.. we are being nit picky.. I think you brought it a long way by getting rid of the blue flower...

I would still enter it.. unless you are out shooting some more and come up with something else "you" like better of course..:D

It is a great shot... The last time I tried to shoot a bee, it attacked me!! I find the super large bumbles much easier to work with... I get a lot of those in my peach trees in the spring.

You did an awesome job getting him in flight..

I sure wish I had the glass to pull this kind of shot off.. lucky you..:D:D:D



Kat

jwear wrote:

Katmitchell wrote:

Hey Jeff,

That is much improved... Gail is right though, the blur on the stem stands out a bit much... Are you cloning or using masks and layers? I would suggest using a mask and a copy of this image as a second layer and mask in over that stem a piece of the stem from another part of the picture that is in good focus..

Or crop it out just to see what it would look like leaving only the bee and the bud..:D


I tried layers even with book in hand but :cry :nah Why is it that all PS help books leave out step 3
Again you all are right but cloning that much just did not work well and the crop I did not like too much. This was shot with a 300 lens so there is only so much detail. I ask the bee for a re-shoot ---told me to buzzzz off

thanks again for feedback but wildlife shots are tough to get and you only get 1 shot at it most of the time. Back to the outdoors I will not miss this computer or PS :ivar

travelways

Hi Jeff,

I think that you don't really need to stick to the square format for this photo.

I would just cut the bottom part, which is not relevant for the subject anyway
and frame it differently.

I would suggest you to try something like this: