I was shooting at the San Diego Botanical Gardens when I saw this flower and I thought it was a good subject for using the Zoom Blur filter in Photoshop.

Here is the original image, I started with some clean up with the specs of debris, and filled in the gaps between the petals showing any background, and did a slight crop.

After doing the clean up in Photoshop Elements, I then clicked on “Filters”.

In the next box place your cursor on “Blur”, and then click on “Radial Blur”.

In the next box look for “Zoom” and click the circle next to it.

Use the Amount slider to add or subtract the amount of the Zoom you want, and this is what I came up with.

After I got the zoom the way I wanted it, I went into Nik Softwares Viveza, and did some tweaking with the structure slider to bring out the details in the petals, and darkened and added structure in the dark center. Then popped the yellow a little more.

This effect works best with the flowers center placed in the middle of the frame like you see in these two images.

Here is another example.

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Join my International Macro Photo Club and learn through over 280 instructional videos, including many on post processing.  Over 2,800 members from 28 countries.

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If you would like to increase the magnification of your macro lens to 2:1, screw on a NiSi close-up filter to the front of your macro lens.

Hunt's Photo has the NiSi close-up filter on sale from $139 to $109.

Here is the link to the sale. Hunt's Photo & Video Photography Retailer

Join my Macro Photo Club online. Over 280 instructional videos. Over 2800 members from 29 countries. 
Info and to sign up. 

MACRO PHOTO CLUB - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer (tinylandscapes.com)

Also Check out my workshops and zoom programs.

WORKSHOPS - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer

Even through there are so many benefits to being a macro/close-up photographer, my favorite one is that all my images are originals.  

All my images shot in nature are of subjects that only lasted for a short time, and I was the only one to photograph it.  

Unlike landscape photographers that line up day after day to shoot the same iconic scenes at the national parks, nobody has photographed the exact subjects that I have.

See the image below, no other photographer has that image, only me.

So, we are lucky that what we shoot and share with people are all originals, that is pretty cool.

Join my Macro Photo Club online. Over 280 instructional videos. Over 2800 members from 29 countries. 
Info and to sign up. 

MACRO PHOTO CLUB - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer (tinylandscapes.com)

Also Check out my workshops and zoom programs.

WORKSHOPS - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer

When I'm doing my creative post processing in Smart Photo Editor, there are times when I click on some strange filters, and the majority of the time I pass on those, but here is one I thought looked interesting, so I kept it.

I used two filters; one is a vignette filter and the other a swirly filter. 

What do you think, did I go too far out.

In January I will be running a zoom program showing how I process my images using Smart Photo Editor. I will post the info and where to sign up after the first of the new year.

Here is the original, shot at the Chicago Botanical Garden. I placed a background behind the flowers to cancel out the clutter and shot it at f/32.

Join my Macro Photo Club online. Over 280 instructional videos. Over 2800 members from 29 countries. 
Info and to sign up. 

MACRO PHOTO CLUB - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer (tinylandscapes.com)

Also Check out my workshops and zoom programs.

WORKSHOPS - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer

Sometimes we get an amazing shot, and when people ask how it happened, your answer could be, I was just in the right place at the right time.  So how do we get to that place.  Simple, by spending more time out shooting.  The more time we spend out in the field, the better the chances we'll end up in the right place at the right time.

I was shooting this Chicory flower, and as I was viewing the flower though the camera's viewfinder, I see the Hoverfly enter the frame, and I quickly fired off a shot.  He was in perfect position of my point of focus.  Being in the right place at the right time.

Join my Macro Photo Club online. Over 280 instructional videos. Over 2800 members from 29 countries. 
Info and to sign up. 

MACRO PHOTO CLUB - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer (tinylandscapes.com)

Also Check out my workshops and zoom programs.

WORKSHOPS - Mike Moats - Award Winning Macro Photographer