Poppy Bouquet + Edit

[JimFox]

From a week or so ago out by the Poppy Preserve in Antelope Valley. This is actually right where the Poppies begin, it's like you are driving a curvy 2 lane road and all of a sudden the hillsides have poppies. There is a nice wide shoulder here on the road so I pulled off and stopped and worked this area for a while. The hills are fenced off, so you can't go up into the poppies, which is actually a nice thing as it keeps people from stepping and stomping on these.

All comments are welcome,

Jim

Original

Edit based on Monika's Suggestions - darkened background area slightly

 

[AlanLichty]

Looks like goatsbeard (Tragopogon dubius) has made some serious inroads in those fields. They do make some nice contrasts to the poppies in this scene.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Nice mix of colors. The orange and whites go well together.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Looks like goatsbeard (Tragopogon dubius) has made some serious inroads in those fields. They do make some nice contrasts to the poppies in this scene.

Goatsbeard? Who comes with these names?

 

[AlanLichty]

Goatsbeard? Who comes with these names?

No clue on the name origin but it is also known as oyster plant and western salsify. It's native to Europe and Asia and highly invasive in the western US deserts.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Beautiful shot. I have a couple flower shots from my recent trip that I need to post but nothing to match this.. A couple are just to show what was there so maybe I will post them in sit and chat

 

[Douglas Sherman]

Im not a Goatsbeard fan but it looks great with the poppies in this image, Jim. I have ever seen so many in this area. I hope that they are not taking over. They are very invasive.

 

[JimFox]

Looks like goatsbeard (Tragopogon dubius) has made some serious inroads in those fields. They do make some nice contrasts to the poppies in this scene.

Funny, Doug just told me the name of those Goatsbeard this afternoon. I had thought they were Dandelions.

Thanks so much Alan.

 

[JimFox]

Nice mix of colors. The orange and whites go well together.

Thanks so much Jameel!

 

[MonikaC]

Nice contrast of colors. Maybe a touch flat, though?
There's an invasive species in Iceland that I have to admit I really like: Alaskan lupines.

 

[JimFox]

Nice contrast of colors. Maybe a touch flat, though?
There's an invasive species in Iceland that I have to admit I really like: Alaskan lupines.

Thanks Monika. What would you suggest to do to make it not feel flat?

Yeah, it would be hard not to like Alaskan Lupines!

 

[MonikaC]

Thanks Monika. What would you suggest to do to make it not feel flat?

Yeah, it would be hard not to like Alaskan Lupines!

You could brighten & increase the contrast in the foreground bunch a bit. Or combine lightening up that bunch with darkening around it. Both slight. And viewing it in a less bright room (no direct light on my laptop) helped quite a bit (mea culpa )

 

[JimFox]

You could brighten & increase the contrast in the foreground bunch a bit. Or combine lightening up that bunch with darkening around it. Both slight. And viewing it in a less bright room (no direct light on my laptop) helped quite a bit (mea culpa )

Thanks Monika. I can't brighten the foreground bunch as the oranges are already starting to blow out. I did darken all of the flowers surrounding it when I processed to help it not be so flat as I had seen that too when processing. But I didn't want to go too much as the hillside was fully lit. Let me try and darken the background a bit more and see.

 

[JimFox]

Hopefully the edit isn't too subtle, I brought the midtones down 15% in the background.

 

[AlanLichty]

That edit works quite well. It keeps my attention right at the poppies down in front and makes them feel more like the subject of the scene.

 

[MonikaC]

Hopefully the edit isn't too subtle, I brought the midtones down 15% in the background.

I think it works well.

 

[Amy Nelson]

Gorgeous image you captured, got to love nature’s paintings.

 

[JimFox]

That edit works quite well. It keeps my attention right at the poppies down in front and makes them feel more like the subject of the scene.

That's great Alan!

 

[JimFox]

I think it works well.

I appreciate your suggestion Amy!

 

[MonikaC]

I appreciate your suggestion Amy!

Gee, thanks, Michael. from Amy.