Curled Stem
This was a RAW file shot with my Nikon D70 plus a Nikkor 28-200mm G lens with a Hoya +4 closeup filter slapped to the front of the lens.
Postprocessing was done entirely in Google’s Picasa software. I’m quite sure the Picasa program doesn’t deal directly with the RAW data itself, but rather with the embedded JPEG image.
I used the Shadow (to increase the contrast) and Fill Light (to brighten the mid-tones) tools in the Tuning section, and the Soft Focus and Sharpen tools in the Effects section. The image was then exported as a 700px resized photo.
For those of you residing in the Klang Valley, I highly recommend that you take a morning walk at Bukit Kiara armed with a telephoto zoom lens, if you have an SLR camera, or take along your macro-capable digital camera - there is a ton of flora and fauna to enjoy taking photographs of there.