very nice shots, these are technically very good. Perhaps post some info on how you did them. e.g. camera settings, or what photoshop procedures you used.

I'm glad you liked my pictures!

I took them with my little 3.2 Mega Pixel Olympus Digital Camera (D540 ZOOM) around an hour or so before sundown. It's by no means a profesional camera, you can't realy adjust anything. It's basically just point and shoot .

The first three pictures were modified in photoshop.

In the first one, I blurred everything that surrounded the center flower. After that, I sharpened it's petals.

The second picture, was cropped and then its background was darkened while keeping the flowers untouched. Here too I sharpened the the petals of the cherry blossoms.

The grass picture is actualy two grass pictures which I "fussed" together to make one (you can actualy somewhat tell if you look at the center of the picture). Originaly the grass had a darker green color but I made it lighter by adding a semi-transparent green layer. I finished off by sharpening some areas which were a bit blurry (due to the "fusion" of the two pictures).

The last picture was untouched !

Any tips or suggestions?

Nice shots, I love the grass shot, you wouldn't know it were two shots, looks like you've got a real talent for photography and your approach to photoshop is quite advanced, well done!

Thank's, you just made my day!

Here are the two original images which I used to create the grass picture:

I used this one for the background...

you're definitely off to a good start. Nice job!

Thanks! Do you know if I could buy a fairly good profesional camera for under $200. I know these cameras cost alot and unfortunatly I do not have the money to buy the very best...

good job! I like!!!!

regrettably, I haven't seen a bargain like that. I opted for a camera that I consider "middle of the road" - it's certainly not professional, but it's not just a point and shoot either.

Mine is a Canon PowerShot S2 1S.

To get an idea of what you're looking for, check out the reviews on PC world, or a similar site. http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/index/0,00.asp#

Then you could watch ebay (be very careful who you buy from) or keep an eye out for rebates and sales. Still, it may be a matter of saving for a while longer to get what you REALLY want, or (gulp) putting it on a credit card, though over time you will end up paying more for it that way.

Hope that helps some.

hi
i'm doing an art project for my ap art drawing class, and my concentration is sakura blossom. i was wondering if you can help me take some pictures or i can use the second picture. please email or post your reply as soon as possible.

Umm... maybe you should check the date of this thread. It was almost a year ago. Also, if you need help please start your own thread and explain your situation instead of highjacking one. Also, people will be more responsive to your current situation if given it's own thread.

Well said Ex ... Closing this up.

Feel free to start your own thread vi3tz