Desert Poppies and more

Even though I've been back from Arizona for almost a month, (and am going on another trip this week), I finally got some photos from my trip posted.
The poppies were incredible this year, and somewhat overwhelming for me. I tried some broad landscape shots with acres of poppies, but couldn't seem to make anything work, so I tried for the more intimate approach. I was fascinated by the juxtaposition of the colorful flowers and the cactus...

Another...

I happened to see this while leaving a private park in Tucson, and was lucky enough to have it stick around while I shot a few frames...

Real pretty, Bob! I love the butterfly--awesome macro. The wood looks a tad too blue in #1.

I could just cut & paste Stan's response. I'd almost be inclined to see if that branch on the left of the butterfly/flower combo could be removed, which could be a good little test of CS5's content-aware healing feature.

And I could cut and paste Todd's response. I do love those poppies.

Very nice Bob. Like the contrast of the dried out cholla remains and the vibrant poppies.

Bill Brennan

Great comps on the poppy images, although both look a little electric on the saturation. The branch on the left of the butterfly image doesn't bother me much, but I might suggest a slight crop off the top. Nice job on all.

You did well to concentrate on the more intimate views here.
I really like those poppy images! Having the cactus 'skeletons' there are a great complement.
And I just love the butterfly shot!
There may be some merit in cropping the top some, but it stands well just as is.

Very well done, Bob!

That first poppy shot really is vibrant! I also like the texture of the log through the image. That is one very cool butterfly shot!

Great series, especially like #3 and #2.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions everyone!
I shot all these in RAW, and even before any processing or converting the reds in the poppies photos looked very "hot" (must be something about Canons...). I worked the curves a bit to tone down the red, and that probably caused the little extra blue on the first one. Definitely no saturation boost applied on any of these...they sure didn't need it.

Very nice!Like the second poppy image. Very vibrant!

Bob, the poppies really "pop" off the page. I like the butterfly even more. Nice work.

Nice job on the pictures. I'm liking the #3. The stick doesn't bother me. Sometimes you have to take what mother nature gives you. However, the picture would be a little extra nice without it. Love the colors in this one too.

These are are some sweet shots. The first two seem just a tad oversaturated on my monitor but I don't know for sure since I haven't seen these in the wild. Thanks for sharing.

The butterfly shot is just excellent! I agree with Jeff that the poppies seem a bit much for color, but your comps are well done.

Very nice collection Bob. Looks lime the red channel is saturating on the first shot. I hear the bloom out there was really something this year!

Thanks again, everyone for the honest assessments.
The red channel did give me some fits on the poppies...the original unedited RAW shots were even more overly red for some reason...
Ken, the bloom was indeed pretty impressive. Quite awe-inspiring, to say the least.