EXPERIMENTATION

ISO 100, f/2.0, 1/400 second, 85mm

  I love playing around with new techniques and tools in photography. About a month ago I downloaded OnOne Software's Perfect Effects 3 Free software. Since then I have really gotten attached to the border, "Thin Mint" from this collection. I haven't really used the true effects though.
  My wife's flower garden is starting to wither with the warmer temperatures of May with the exception of her Lillies.  She has a set of Yellow Lillies, 3 sets of Day Lillies, and this set of Orange Lillies that are just exploding.
  I wanted to catch these Orange Lillies right after the rain the other day but my timing never worked out.  This evening, as the sun crept near the horizon, I decided to photograph them with the 85 mm lens and experiment with some large apertures  to try and achieve a macro effect.
  One of the first shots I took is in today's post.  The sunlight was just getting a touch on the upper petals of the Lilly and made for a neat effect when I applied some heavy contrasting to the shot.
  I then used Perfect Effects 3 Free to apply the Dreamland  effect which softened up the image a great deal just like a dream (hence the name). I really liked the way it gave the shot a sleepy effect.