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the end and the beginning
2nd Placethe end and the beginning
ursula


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Seed (Advanced Editing IV)
Collection: 2006
Camera: Nikon D70
Lens: Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro for Nikon
Location: Trail, BC
Date: Sep 15, 2006
Aperture: F 2.8
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/640 sec
Galleries: Still Life, Macro
Date Uploaded: Sep 14, 2006

Shot RAW, natural sunlight from a window, small gold reflector on the backside. Converted in Bridge.
Edited in PSCS2.

I didn't write down the steps, and worked on it over a couple days, but here it goes:

Cropped first, then cloned out (stamp tool/healing tool) a couple irregularities. Worked on levels and contrast/brightness. Turned to just about b/w (I think I did this). Created a copy layer and turned it to a dark purple blue, darkened edges to the left hand side a big more. Made a copy layer of this second layer and blurred with gaussian. Blended layer two with background in normal, layer three in soft light (different percents, played around with it). Flattened.

After that I worked with the dodge/burn tools, mainly dodge, to get the dandelion lighter. Resized, sharpened overall, reduced noise overall, sharpened selectively around dandelion, cloned and blended a few more imperfections mainly at the bottom right side of the dandelion, saved as JPG.

NOTE: The end product doesn't look much like the original. I'm not sure I like the type of editing, it is more than what I usually feel comfortable with, but I wanted to try something like this for a while, so here it is.

This is the original (shot RAW, so this is converted to JPG and downsized to 640x426, no other adjustments whatsoever):


Statistics
Place: 2 out of 163
Avg (all users): 6.7762
Avg (commenters): 8.5882
Avg (participants): 6.6393
Avg (non-participants): 6.8780
Views since voting: 11695
Views during voting: 272
Votes: 143
Comments: 53
Favorites: 28 (view)


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AuthorThread
04/01/2008 03:10:39 PM
Quite lovely, and a wonderfully understated title, which simply encapsulates the whole circle of Life and Death for these ubiquitous little plants.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
10/01/2006 07:41:25 AM
great idea, work and postprocessing ... i see the postprocessing artifacts but i admire the idea and the outcome, and of course the work you put in it , congratz !
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/30/2006 10:24:08 AM
You really know how to create a gorgeous, moody photo! Outstanding and inspiring! Congratulations on your ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/29/2006 11:22:46 PM
A fine study with seductive shading to entice the viewer. Congratulations on your Red.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/29/2006 10:38:26 AM
Congrats on your ribbon. Great shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/28/2006 07:05:51 PM
Very eye detailed! i've got to admit, when i saw it on the homepage, i didn't double-click it to see the full image, as i usualy do with the ribbon winners ( i didn't look at any of the seeds, don't worry ursula ;-) Anyway,i saw it through the forums, and i'm sure you know what i'm talking about. Just wanted to say i'm sorry they picked you for the unfortunate example, but it is a verry appealing image, and very well deserved. thanks for entering
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/28/2006 09:53:17 AM
One of my favourites in this challenge...wonderful stuff Ursula, congrats on another ribbon
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/27/2006 12:05:17 PM
Another beautiful image. Very nice. Love the blue toning. Gives it an almost frozen look.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/26/2006 03:38:46 AM
woow
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 08:33:26 PM
What an awesome picture!! Much better than the first place! Congratulations on your 2nd place!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 04:21:08 PM
Ursula,

Lovely lovely shot! Well done. I don't want to see the original. I want to see what YOU see...always.

  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 01:49:27 PM
congrats on 2nd!! the colors kinda remind me of my Silhouettes II entry a looong time ago, only yours is so much better ;)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 12:45:05 PM
Awesome results. The lighting is magical. I really get a feeling of some great sacrafice that resulted in something even greater than itself - if that makes any sense. Very well deserved medal.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 12:36:18 PM
Good shot. But, could you please post the original? I'd like to see what it looked like before all the adjusting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 11:50:15 AM
Thank you all, very much, for the comments and votes.
09/25/2006 09:21:17 AM
Great shot Ursula, congratulations on your ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 07:27:09 AM
Lovely shot Ursula, love the contrast, well deserved ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 06:08:12 AM
Congratulations...Good Job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 02:09:09 AM
You sure know how to shoot flowers. This is a very pretty composition. The artefacts of over-sharpeing or JPEG compression spoil the impression a little bit.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 02:04:43 AM
"WOW"..... Yes, another much deserved ribbon for you Ursula, and so well deserved, with this breathtaking stunning image..... Congratulations.....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 01:42:22 AM
congrats ursula. You are certainly getting up there in total ribbons. Hopefully the long BC winter slows you down... ;)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 01:41:48 AM
beautiful tones, congratulations
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 01:32:06 AM
Congrats! Very artistic as always.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 01:16:45 AM
Well,congratulatins on your ribon, gave this an 8 without comment, deserved the blue with the workflow effort.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 01:15:47 AM
Gorgeous! Love the tones. Many congrats on your ribbon, Ursula!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 12:47:58 AM
Ursula, I love your work and this is such a beauty. Congratulations on the red.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 12:39:07 AM
Congrats on a neat shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 12:30:07 AM
The processing really gave this a haunting feel, really nice work. Grats on the ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 12:25:22 AM
Cool picture. Congrats on your ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 12:17:37 AM
This is such a beautiful picture!! Congratulations on the ribbon!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 12:16:32 AM
(Stands up and applauds)

Congrats on the Ursula. Always have a new trick up your sleeve huh?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 12:10:34 AM
Beautiful presentation and deserving of a ribbon. Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/25/2006 12:03:46 AM
YUMMY as usual!!! Congrats.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
09/24/2006 09:43:43 PM
Stunning.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/24/2006 09:12:44 PM
Beautiful. Love the blue/gray tones and the sharp dark lines of the dandelion.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/23/2006 12:13:50 PM
Ahhhhh...beautiful!!! 10.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/23/2006 07:36:03 AM
This is excellent, and love the blue colortones.....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/22/2006 09:38:25 PM
This is one of the best in the challenge. The tones are lovely.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/22/2006 02:37:43 AM
Oh man, where do I start? THIS IS AMAZING!! Awesome duo-tone, DOF really works well here. Good use of the ROT. Nothing more to say than 10 for this stunning work. Very NICE!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/21/2006 02:49:27 PM
Killer lighting and detail. Great range of tones in this monochromatic photo. Excellent!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/20/2006 07:13:00 AM
Nicely titled. Different
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/20/2006 02:24:56 AM
Interesting POV. THe outside of the puff ball is a bit funky, probably a bit too much USM. I also can't figure for the life of me what the dandilion is flopped over, and it's bright top distracts from the main thrust of the image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/19/2006 08:37:31 PM
I love the mood in this photo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/19/2006 02:38:47 PM
Sweet!!! Absolutely beautiful!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/19/2006 12:09:14 PM
Nice. Crisp, clear, interesting to look at. I like the color tone you've selected (kicking myself - almost used this tone and chickened out). Nice use of bg material to add, yet not impose, to the image overall.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/18/2006 10:03:51 PM
I really enjoy the softness of the colors and light. This is a winning photograph. Good luck in the challenge. I vote a perfect 10!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/18/2006 07:38:33 PM
I'm sure this will end up with a high score. I like your shot a lot: excellent composition, the colors are beautiful. I love the look of the seeds: they almost seem to glow. Great!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/18/2006 01:02:41 PM
NICE! WELL DONE!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/18/2006 06:57:12 AM
a bit oversharpened. nice color, composition, lighting and DOF
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/18/2006 06:47:20 AM
Perfect in every way. Love the light, the colour, the composition, the contrast, the DoF, everything. 10 + Favs
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/18/2006 12:43:13 AM
love the light and dof... this is a wonderful image and possibly the best one so far (out of 88)...9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/18/2006 12:31:35 AM
Oh my. The silvery blue really enhances the dreamlike sense of the dandelion. Quite lovely. I can't figure out what that ovule shaped metal looking thing is. I don't care - I still love the shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
09/18/2006 12:21:42 AM
wow, this is just lovely. everything from the blue tones, the dof, and the lighting...just..wow. the only thing that bothers me here is it seems the ends of the seeds seem to be just a bit over sharpened.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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