Last week, I visited the Oakbrook Shopping Center to capture some photographs of the tulips. While taking the pictures, I envisioned what the finished photograph would look like after processing. Here's how one of the images progressed from the camera's sensor to the final photograph:

I noticed this row of pink tulips planted on the center island of the road that enters the mall. I saw that the street would provide a clean backdrop for the tulips. I moved the camera into a higher position and then closer to the tulips to ensure that the pavement would cover the background. I didn't want the grass in the background to intersect with the line of tulips. One of the challenges was getting into position quickly enough to take a picture during a rare lull in the traffic! Here's the image straight out of the camera:

TulipsTulips at the Oakbrook Shopping Center at 100 Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook, Illinois on May 5, 2015 After importing the file into Adobe's Lightroom 6, I made the following edits:

• Adjusted the white balance by pointing the WB eyedropper tool on the gray curb
• Reduced the exposure slightly (-0.12 stops)
• Reduced the highlights slightly
• Made a curve adjustment to create a black point within the frame
• Made lens corrections for chromatic aberration and for the lens profile
• Cropped the image

Then, I sent the image to Photoshop to make some additional edits:

• Selected the background (using the Select > Color Range tool)...and then painted the selection using a blue brush
• Applied a couple of Nik Color Efex filters (Foliage and Pro Contrast) to add some pop to the image
• Copied the layer and applied the Soft Light blending mode at a reduced opacity
• Cloned some areas around the edges for a cleaner border

After applying all of the above adjustments, here's how the image looks:

TulipsTulips at the Oakbrook Shopping Center at 100 Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook, Illinois on May 5, 2015

CLICK HERE for higher resolution image

Then, I created a second version (which I prefer) with some texture applied to the picture. Here are the steps that I used to create the final photograph:

• Opened the above image in Photoshop
• Opened one of my texture pictures in Photoshop (see below).
• Selected the entire texture picture (CTRL A in Windows)--then copied the entire picture as a new layer above the tulip picture
• Used the overlay blending mode for the textured layer and reduced its opacity to 35%

And, here's the final textured photograph!

TulipsTulips at the Oakbrook Shopping Center at 100 Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook, Illinois on May 5, 2015

CLICK HERE for higher resolution image