Flower Power

Radiant Geometry (Passiflora, or Passion Flower), Montjuic, Barcelona, 2023

“A flower blossoms for its own joy.”
― Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900

Camera vs. Vision

As the saying goes, the best camera is the one you have with you. For most of us, that would be the camera in our mobile phone.

Lately, the technology has really matured and newer phones come with reasonably high resolution sensors, improved low light capability, and a variety of lense options, from wide angle to telephoto. So, you have soooo many more options now.

Still, maybe the best tool (apart from the aforementioned phone) might be your personal vision. You see something that strikes you, you photograph it with your phone, then you “develop” the image with appropriate software into what you had envisioned in your mind when you first saw it.

To wit: the above example.

The Process

–Just a flower along a city sidewalk (an idea/vision strikes!).

–Pull out the old iPhone X with its crappy battery and tattered case.

–A short wait for the wind to die down enough to avoid movement blur.

–Frame the subject until the pleasure meter in the chest hits max. (That still-closed bud at top right and the surrounding green leaf patterns were just as important as the main flower.)

–Filters used via Adobe Photoshop Elements: Topaz Labs’ Glow (Liquify) at maybe 40% opacity, then a bit of Tonal Contrast and Vignette in Nik Color Efex Pro.

This is a little outside of my normal style, but this happy little flower was really shouting for it.