Backlite white rose

[wmchauncey]

I took this rose shot using a reflected mirror image of a cloud diffused sunny sky with the rose obscuring the bright sun in the mirror...toned down the detail as well.



Suggestions for improvement would be appreciated...   

[DF1]

Interesting technique. I think it works pretty well.

[luxborealis]

Gorgeous tones in the rose.

For me, the jury is still out on the blurred sky background. Seeing such a natural-looking rose against an unnatural-looking sky immediately says, to me anyway, this is not natural, as we tend not to be looking up at roses, and, if we are, it wouldn't be straight into the rose like this shot is. It's a juxtaposition that just "doesn't compute" in my wee pea-sized brain.

However, I would imagine this would work very well for many photo buyers. Nicely done for changing things up!

[mal mcilwraith]

The technique is interesting and the effort is not wasted in my opinion. I think the thing to look at is the composition is very static and may detract from the overall impact of the image. Also the blue tones in the petals seem distracting to me.

Mal

[brandtb]

nice concept.  The background value changes are competing with those in the rose...I would make those less apparent...and more even...let the background "be the background"...and let the subject "be the subject".  Also the "burned" area of upper center petal...should be undone...so as to match those in the other petals...it's sticking out...maybe tone down the shadows on the other petals as well.  The complimentary colors are quite nice. /B
 

[chuckn]

I like it very much. It reminds me of a Georgia O'Keeffe painting.

Chuck.

[Jeremy Roussak]

Suggestions for improvement would be appreciated...   

Black and white? I'm not sure the coloured background contributes anything much.

Jeremy

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Black and white? I'm not sure the coloured background contributes anything much.

Jeremy

I agree. The rose is lovely, but the sky keeps bothering me. Black and white might do it justice.

Eric

[wmchauncey]

I did try it in B&W...doesn't thrill me.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I find the white-gray background less distracting than the blue sky, but the rose itself suffers considerably.
What I would do next, if it were my shot, would be to mask the rose in the color version and superimpose it on the black and white version.

(I do like to make other people go to a lot of trouble.    )

[louoates]

I find the white-gray background less distracting than the blue sky, but the rose itself suffers considerably.
What I would do next, if it were my shot, would be to mask the rose in the color version and superimpose it on the black and white version.

(I do like to make other people go to a lot of trouble.    )

My thoughts exactly.

[Jeremy Roussak]

I find the white-gray background less distracting than the blue sky, but the rose itself suffers considerably.
What I would do next, if it were my shot, would be to mask the rose in the color version and superimpose it on the black and white version.

(I do like to make other people go to a lot of trouble.   )

It could probably be done fairly easily in Lightroom, for example, by moving the blue sliders a long way to the left. Something like this? (Apologies in advance if my fiddling upsets anyone.)

Jeremy

[wmchauncey]

Jeremy, it bothers me not a whit but, I would have done it in PS.  Maybe fading the blues just a bit would work.