There are times when image embellishment is a good thing and there are times when “gilding the lily” is just not necessary. Recently, I have been noticing that heavy-handed texture overlays are on their way out of favor, just as heavy HDR processing has become a thing of the past. I think that finding the true beauty naturally in a flower image has become more and more popular—well, at least with me. In this post I want to share some flower images that reflect my thoughts. Don’t get me wrong, some images absolutely look better when embellished correctly. Lately, I have found that I prefer a more subtle use of background enhancements. Below are some examples.
In an upcoming seminar (not online) that I will be announcing soon, I will be sharing lots and lots of my subtle techniques. If you are interested in learning more about this seminar let me know.
Natural lighting, the dark background was made darker in post processing.
Natural lighting, the soft background was achieved using low opacity blending of some applied blur.
Natural lighting, straight out of camera. I liked the complimentary colors.
Natural lighting, straight out of camera. I could have cloned the top left corner or completely removed any hints of green but chose to keep them in for a more natural look. Perfect is never my intension and perfect is never found in nature. When you try to create perfect looking images, they lose that natural feel.
Natural lighting, the original capture is below. Here I brushed over the dark stem in the top right corner not removing it completely and a slight amount of softening to the background making the enhancements minimal.
Natural lighting, straight out of camera before enhancements.
“The cliché “gild the lily” is a misquotation of a line from Shakespeare: “To gild refined gold, to paint the lily … is wasteful and ridiculous excess.” Correctly quoted or not, this common phrase refers to the unnecessary practice of embellishing something which doesn’t need embellishing.”