Native yellow water lily on Blind River, LA.

[dumainew]

F7.1
1/50s
iso 250
edited in Sigma Photo Pro
taken at 4pm on 10/5/15
Hope you enjoy.
Comments and critiques all welcome.
Richard

[thierrylegros396]

Is the grain intentional or the the light was low?

Have a Nice Day.

Thierry Legros

[dumainew]

Thierry,
About the grain:
I had to underexpose the settings so as not to blow out the bright yellows. That made the reflection pretty dark. When I began editing it the reflection in the dark brown water looked so painterly I decided to give the yellow petals as much texture (grain) as possible.
I think it has a soft, subtle quality that I like. But it's very much unlike what I was looking at from my kayak.
Hope this makes sense.
Take good care,
Richard

[sdwilsonsct]

I had to underexpose the settings so as not to blow out the bright yellows.

Good job on the highlights. These flowers are tough to do well, IMO.
Next challenge? Getting the subject in the context of its habitat might make the image even more interesting.

[dumainew]

Hi Scott,
I completely agree with you that come context would make for a better foto. Isolating a plant can abstract it in a way that causes it to lose it's vitality. Not quite sure how to do it with these water lilies, but I'll see what I can find.
Thanks for your input.
Richard