Whats Wrong with the bee?

[cpittmx]

I took this photo today while out doing the easter egg hunt. I cropped the photo and did a hue/saturation adjustment where I added a little yellow. I then did adjusted levels. On levels to make the bee look good made the flowers look not so good so I masked over the flowers. for some reason the bee looks as if it were photoshoped in or something to me. I dont know if it is because the edges are a little blurry or what. Any suggestions? What did I do wrong?

[Chuck S.]

Curt, it appears to me that the point of sharp focus is deep in the center of the flower to the right of the bee, and at that close range you may not have much depth of field with which to work. The bee is just a tad out of focus, and may also be moving just a bit. But I like it anyway!

Chuck

[lindajay]

I'm not sure, without seeing your original, but it may be that you used a soft-edged brush when you painted over the flowers. That might cause the bee to be a bit blurry. Or, perhaps you focused on the flowers when shooting the photo, leaving the bee a bit out of focus. Pretty shot, none the less! :)

--Linda

[cpittmx]

Chuck, after looking at the photo I think you are correct. I was holding the camera very close to the flower and I was not looking through the viewfinder to see what the camera picked to focus on. So I do think it picked the flower to the right and also no matter how nicely I asked the bees would not hold still.

Linda, I did use a soft edge brush when masking so that you could not see definite lines. I went back and removed the adjustment layer and then adjusted levels without masking and seemed to pretty much get the same effect. I guess the bee was just out of focus in my shot.

Thanks for the help I'm not very good at evaluating pictures yet. I just know if I like it or not....and this one i'm not really satisfied with.

[Chuck S.]

Curt, I'm just glad the bee didn't get aggravated and decide to deposit its stinger in you....!:)

Chuck