‘Playing’ with Photoshop (TM)

I took this photo the other day while walking home, feeling it would be a good one to ‘play’ with:

Tiny Rosebud–Original

And…of course it was!

Tiny Rosebud

I began by cropping, then lowering the Levels, and heightening the Brightness/Contrast several times.  It began to look better, so I used the Sharpen filter, and the Sharpen Edges filter, then took it into the Distort filter, where I enlarged the bud portion in Lens Correction and added some subtle Vignetting.  It was then ready for the Lighting Effects filter, which I do incrementally ( used it twice here).  Next came a transparent red, using the Brush menu, to define the edges of the petals a bit more.  I used Sharpen Edges again, then used the Blur filter at 36%…eh, voila, I finally had the image just the way I wanted it!  It takes a lot to get something ‘just right’, but it is oh, soooo satisfying!

Never be afraid to ‘play’ with Photoshop (TM) or other photography software…just make sure you keep the original!