Taken on Sunday at the Tulip Festival in La Conner, WA. Unfortunately, I didn't record my settings; don't even remember which lens I had on. The original is very sharp in the areas that are in focus and the light parts are much brighter - need a better scanner. This was taken outdoors, in very bright sun, using a polarizer.
I like the light coming thru the petals in the back of the flower but not excited about the foreground being out of focus. It is generally advisable (not always) to keep the foregrounfd in focus and let the rest fall where it may. Hope you solve the scanning problem.
The detail and brightness is in the original. I scanned the picture three different times using three different "techniques". This version was the best. It could be the monitor also, at home last night on my monitor this is much brighter, now I'm looking at it at work and it's dark enough that you can't see all the petals around the edge. Bummer!
I do not own Photoshop but I am currently accepting donations. Oh, and I would take a scanner, too. Or pretty much anything for that matter. :)
It's probably your scanner as you mentioned, but my eyes are screaming for more detail, and more light. This delicate little beauty seems a touch dark and flat IMHO.
See if you can scan a cleaner version of this, or try some clean up work in PS.
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{K:5597} 5/2/2002