Just Playing Around

I have two Easter Lilies on my dining room table, waiting for me to deliver them. While I’m it makes me happy to give them away, and I think that they look pretty, I can’t wait to get them out of my house. Why? Because the smell of two of them is overwhelming!

That didn’t deter me, however, from taking the opportunity provided by some beautiful late-afternoon sunlight streaming in through the windows to take some snaps. And, since I had just downloaded more iPhone apps to play with, this was the perfect time. I was trying out both Camera Awesome and Camera +. Awesome is free, + is not. I’m not sure which one I like better, nor have I figured out whether they have the same features.

This particular shot was taken in Camera+. After testing out many of the editing features — the usual iphone array of filters, presets and frames, I stuck with some basic edits for exposure and saturation. I was pleased with the final product. Then, I decided to experiment with another post-processing app I had downloaded: Repix. Think brushes. Lots of brushes! I tried nearly everyone available in the app. Some I removed, some I left. I don’t recall exactly what I kept, but it wasn’t until I was nearly finished that I discovered how to use the Erasure tool at a lower opacity and what awesomeness one can do with the “silk” brushes. I was pleased with my final product — something that looked entirely different from the photograph that I shot. I like the abstractness of this, yet it has enough definition (I think) that you can tell that it is a close-up of a flower. Repix let me then open it in Instagram for posting.

I later brought it into Photoshop Elements. Initially my intent was to simply add my copyright/signature, but I ended up playing with some additional filters. It looks a little different, but I’m not sure which I like better. I like the definition in the IG version; but I also like how the PSE version is more abstract. I had applied the vignetting in Repix and it looks okay in the Instagram version, but it needs more smoothing in the PSE version.

Which to you prefer and why? All feedback appreciated.