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Home > TME Community > Share Your Work > Macro > Blue Dragonfly
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Blue Dragonfly
Started July 29, 2010 @ 10:40am by Flo
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Flo
Posts: 15,844 |
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| Blue Dragonfly | July 29, 2010 @ 10:40am | This one was so small at first I thought it was a damsel fly. But from the way it holds its wings, it's a dragon fly. It also didn't scare away very easily. The lens I had was the Nikkor 50mm 1.4, so I got as close to the bug as it would allow me. And then once at home I cropped it - must have lost about 50-60 % of the pixels.
I have 2 versions: the original, the colors of which I prefer; and the CS3 Selective Color version - in which I got rid of the yellow-greens which do attract the eye beyond the main subject - but which resulted in greens that look artificial.
Original:
Larger
Lost the yellow:
Larger
So, which version do you prefer?
Flo - PPY
"May we live in peace without weeping. May our joy outline the lives we touch without ceasing. And may our love fill the world, angel wings beating." aziza
http://photos.tonebytone.com |
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Pixelle
Posts: 1,170 |
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| July 29, 2010 @ 11:52am | The insect is more visible in the first image because of the contrast between colors (yellow and green=background, blue=insect). However I love the hues in the second picture. I can't choose a favorite.
Micheline
"Finding and expressing your vision is a journey, not a destination". David Du Chemin
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Flo
Posts: 15,844 |
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| July 29, 2010 @ 5:07pm | Thanks, Micheline - this is sort of my dilemma, too, lol.
Flo - PPY
"May we live in peace without weeping. May our joy outline the lives we touch without ceasing. And may our love fill the world, angel wings beating." aziza
http://photos.tonebytone.com |
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Steve
Posts: 523 |
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| July 30, 2010 @ 4:59pm | Flo, I was also undecided. I like different things about each version for much the same reasons that Micheline suggests. So after pondering, I decided to try a different approach. Rather than shifting all the yellows toward blue, I desaturated the yellows and brought up the blues in the dragonfly. Still not quite there, but see what you think.
-Steve (PPY)
Wayland, MA |
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RickT
Posts: 1,694 |
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| July 30, 2010 @ 7:35pm | How about this. In PS, create a curves layer and darken the background further. Then do a color selection of the diagonal greenish-yellow stems. With them selected, create a brightness/contrast layer, which will get a mask with your stem selections in "white". Now drag down the brightness of the stems. The end result should make your dragonfly more prominent, while still leaving all the elements of the original.
RickT
Boulder, Colorado
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwteichler/
PPY |
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Last Edit: July 30, 2010 @ 7:35pm by RickT | |
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Flo
Posts: 15,844 |
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| July 30, 2010 @ 11:43pm | Thanks, Steve, I do like this.
Rick, thanks for the directions. But when I try this, what happens is that when I merge the layers again, the changes that I thought I made to the selected area only - and put it on its own layer - end up affecting the whole image and not just that one area.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but it has happened time after time. I use CS3.
Flo - PPY
"May we live in peace without weeping. May our joy outline the lives we touch without ceasing. And may our love fill the world, angel wings beating." aziza
http://photos.tonebytone.com |
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RickT
Posts: 1,694 |
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| July 31, 2010 @ 11:43am | Flo, sounds like you need a refresher session with Mark Johnson! I'm sending an explanatory email along with the PSD file I used to your t-b-t email address. With that file in hand and more detailed instructions (destructions?), I think you'll quickly find your misstep. Apologies in advance for any PC vs. Mac discrepancies in my descriptions.
RickT
Boulder, Colorado
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwteichler/
PPY |
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Flo
Posts: 15,844 |
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| July 31, 2010 @ 12:01pm | Thanks, Rick, I'll look forward to it. 
Flo - PPY
"May we live in peace without weeping. May our joy outline the lives we touch without ceasing. And may our love fill the world, angel wings beating." aziza
http://photos.tonebytone.com |
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assignment
Community Assignment #53
Picture Window
Due Date: September 16, 2011 |
Have you heard about the Backyard Shots Photography Guide "Street Portraiture with CraigTanner"?
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