SHY

Last Spring we saw some beautiful Gerbera Daisy plants at one of

our Nurseries. We hesitated about purchasing them - we'd never

planted any in our gardens before. We decided to put the plants in

our Planter Baskets. To our surprise, they were very hardy and were

prolific bloomers over the Summer into Fall. This bud was about the

size of a Plum. Because they were such a welcome sight when I

walked out the front door, I hope we will enjoy some again this

planting season. (visits and comments always welcome, many

thanks, Gail :)

Gail,

Lots to like about this shot.  Nice detail, good colors, and an excellent POV.  Well done.

Hi Bill,

I'm  pretty sure I must have taken this one with a Tripod - I was only about 7 wks. in after my shoulder surgery.  I recall trying to get out as soon as I could for a little bit of time everyday. Thanks so much for those encouraging words!!

Nice photo Gail.

I like the colors and especially the simple green background. I think it suits this image the way you have it.  I also like your point of focus - the red portions.

My only suggestion for a similar situation is to underexpose a little bit based on the highlight area that i see in this image.

I have played with it, made a crop, performed a rotate and then darkened the image. It is not a recommendation, but just something from a 2nd pair of eyes.

Is a very well position caught for this bud(by the way title fit so well for this),sometime macro reveals so interesting details,never seen just with a simple view.The future petals here look so nice like lances and colors too is pleasantly.Tony idea about crop and contrast-saturation increase shows the fact that this is a very good shot and can play as you want with it but the beauty remain.

sincerely radu

it is really shy and beautiful, i like it BR Joze

It's marvelous Gail. The title does fit, the colors and details are also excellent. Smooth bg blur all adds up to a very welcoming of spring, hopefully soon. Great work.

Best Always,  Holger

 a different viewpoint which grabs attention.well composed,detail & colour,Gail

It's a refreshing change to see the " back " Of a flower . I also like the conversion that Tony has done . Bill

Fine combination of textures and colours.

Hi Gail,

  Beautiful image with wonderful details & colors.  Take care, Patsy

Beautiful, passion and soul, great work of your art and nature. 

You are very artistic. God bless you.

Thanks for your kind words, amiga, the roses were for my mom's birthday.  

A thousand hugs. Mari

Gail!very nice creative perspective-composition-softcolors-and mood  well done.

I tried adjusting the image the way you suggested. I had tried rotating the 'bud' before posting and I still preferred the way I posted (hence the title). The main reason for this is - whenever I would observe the 'buds' first thing each day, they always had this 'shy' posture.  For some reason, and I know it sounds odd to talk about a flower 'bud' this way, but it was rather 'endearing' to me.  I imagine this is mainly because I really enjoy taking images of the flowers in my garden and there are always things I 'marvel' about - re how each species evolves from bud to full bloom. I could have increased the intensity of colour and darkness in the original image, but I did like the way it was naturally.  When I first opened the image in PS, I really enjoyed how the image was so devoid of colour noise and contrast. I found when I was adjusting the image as you suggested, there seems to be some exaggerated edges of deep blue on the petals as are on yours when I opened it in PS.  I tried decreasing the blue saturation but I had no luck getting rid of these edges.  Do you have any suggestions as how to do this?? Another reason for the way I posted it, I was not fond of the small area that is out of focus just beyond the petals.  For me it was less prominent in the upright shot.  I was aware in the previous year that I needed to work on my 'focal plane' in images.  This shot was taken just 7 wks after shoulder surgery and I was just happy to be out taking whatever images I could.  During the summer I worked on my  'focal plane', hoping to do better this year. Thanks so much for your input. I will also post the original, mainly because I did not really crop much off of it. Best always, Gail

........

Yes I am rather fond of Tony's idea and tried converting similar.  It is always great to get other's 'visions' of an image. Many thanks for your positive feedback Bill

Funny, my son Jesse was extremely shy when he was 3-4 years old.  When a stranger spoke to him, he would turn his head away, give a little shy smile, then wait a bit till he felt more comfortable before he would face them.  Usually his arms were wrapped tight around one of my legs.  This shot reminded me of him as well.  I enrolled him in a Preschool program to help him get used to socializing more with people other than his close friends that he played with in the backyard.  Gerberas become such big, beautiful full blooms. I can't help but think they open as they do, to protect them from the elements.  These buds and this image where you see a bud more fully open shows them at less than a third of what the mature bloom was like. Thanks so much Jack for your visit and encouraging words. Days are getting sunnier, the snow is melting and the promise of Spring is in the air (even though I know there will be a few snowstorms yet before the Winter is really over!!)

I thought the roses had to be for your Mom.  So glad you enjoyed this image Mari.  I love Gerberas. I used them often for arrangements when I worked in flower shops but we always had to insert a wire in the stem or put them in a holder - once cut, the are top heavy and tend to droop. I marvelled at how resilient they were while still growing in their pot. I wish I had taken more images of the entire flower pot so I could post just how prolific these plants were with blooms.

Thanks so much, each one, for your words of appreciation for this capture.  I really am fond of the Spring and Summer months when I can get out in the Garden.

I thought you might enjoy this little 'bud', knowing how much you love flowers and Macro work.  As I mentioned in one of your images,  I should purchase a few Spring blooms from the Florist and experiment at home.  We don't have anything blooming right now.  Some flowers to practice on would be a welcome diversion as we await Spring!!

I like a lot slightly cool colours and your choice of dof, the crop is also very good - excellent image!

Many thanks for your thoughts on the processing, very encouraging.

Sincere thanks for dropping over and sharing your encouraging words, truly appreciate your visit!