Dead, decaying flowers. Really? What is the allure? I cannot explain it, but I love to photograph dead or decaying flowers. I find them intriguing. So much detail comes through the petals. The colors mold into unknown shades. Decaying, or dead flowers speak to me saying, “Even in death, there is life and more to come.”
The flower in the photograph below is a white tulip. I saved the tulips a bit too long as mold was beginning to grow on the stems. Time was not permitting me to tend to them until yesterday. I finally thought “enough is enough” and decided not to let the opportunity to photograph the bouquet pass by. I noticed this particular flower was hanging in the shape of a heart. It is almost as though it is traveling through the air.
You’ll notice that there are three images for you to view. I thought the original was a bit drab despite the detail. I used backlighting and could have exposed it more, but when I did it seemed blown out and some of the details were lost.
The second version is edited in Photoshop using a curves level and then adding a texture layer. Have you used Adobe Paper Texture Pro? I love it. There are so many options and once you have applied a texture layer you can adjust the opacity in the layers panel.
Loving black and white photography the way I do, I of course had to include a third version in black and white. I left the texture layer on when converting to black and white.
Which version of the tulip speaks to you the most? What does it say?
Original “Goodness of Heart”
ss 1/60 f 4.5 ISO 400
Nikon D810, Nikkor 105mm f2.8
Curve adjustment and Adobe Paper Texture Pro Layer – Brushed Rose
Version II converted to Black and White
Robyn Graham Photography 