From Dust unto Dust

[Ysarex]

They leave us so soon!

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.
-- Robert Herrick

 

[pgriz]

I like! Capturing the detail of the roses after the bloom went off, is both interesting and different. There is delicacy in the petals, even in the ones that are drying and withering. You captured a very balanced grouping. If there were nits to pick, I'd like to have the flower at the lower right corner more obscured, or even removed from the image.

 

[PixelRabbit]

I like! Capturing the detail of the roses after the bloom went off, is both interesting and different. There is delicacy in the petals, even in the ones that are drying and withering. You captured a very balanced grouping. If there were nits to pick, I'd like to have the flower at the lower right corner more obscured, or even removed from the image.

Can't add a thing, nice shot.

 

[Ysarex]

I like! Capturing the detail of the roses after the bloom went off, is both interesting and different. There is delicacy in the petals, even in the ones that are drying and withering. You captured a very balanced grouping. If there were nits to pick, I'd like to have the flower at the lower right corner more obscured, or even removed from the image.

Glad you like. Yep, I noticed that rose in the lower corner too. I burned it down some. I saw it when I took the photo and now, since you mentioned it, I have to tell you a story:

That rose is in my wife's garden. I am delightfullly married to my wonderful wife for over 30 years now. When I was wooing my sweetheart she was a budding botanist and I a young photographer. To win her favor I would follow her around and photograph the flora as she pointed them out -- an effective tactic. On a weekend trip to the Delaware Water Gap we stopped at a trail head and, as we were getting ready to go hiking, my sweetheart noticed a patch of interestingly colored soapwort. Of course I could grap a photo. As I mounted the camera to the tripod she got some of our hiking sundries ready. I looked at the soapwort and noted that it was adversely lit. So I reached down and pulled up a plant, walked over to the car (good light) and slammed the door shut on the plant to hold it in place. As I'm focusing the camera my sweetheart comes over with this look of horror on her face and exclaims, " I didn't ask you to kill it!"

I shoot them as I find them and I don't molest them; we'll be married 40 years real soon.

Joe

 

[pgriz]

Joe, good story. It may be a blemish on a photograph, but it is worthwhile tradeoff to keep your life's partner happy. Congratulations on the long marriage - it appears you are still in love, and that, in this day and age, is a rare feat. My wife and I will be celebrating our 30th next year - and she still gets my heart singing arias every time I see her.

 

[Ysarex]

Joe, good story. It may be a blemish on a photograph, but it is worthwhile tradeoff to keep your life's partner happy. Congratulations on the long marriage - it appears you are still in love, and that, in this day and age, is a rare feat. My wife and I will be celebrating our 30th next year - and she still gets my heart singing arias every time I see her.

Wonderful, congrats on 30. I think we're two years away from 40. È il sol dell'anima, la vita è amore

Joe

 

[Joel_W]

You really have a good eye for florals, and see the value and beauty in the cycle of their respective lives. The soft difussed light just adds that much to the various tones right through to the browns. While I usually don't like dead center, it works in this case as the subject flows from top to bottom. The only change I would suggest is less DOF to further soften the background.

It's hard to beleive that even in St. Louis you're through the 1st cycle of Roses, and they're just coming into their own here on the Island. I always thought we had a more temperate climate.

 

[Ysarex]

You really have a good eye for florals, and see the value and beauty in the cycle of their respective lives. The soft difussed light just adds that much to the various tones right through to the browns. While I usually don't like dead center, it works in this case as the subject flows from top to bottom. The only change I would suggest is less DOF to further soften the background.

It's hard to beleive that even in St. Louis you're through the 1st cycle of Roses, and they're just coming into their own here on the Island. I always thought we had a more temperate climate.

Thanks. I actually shot a sequence of about eight frames considering the DOF. I have some with less DOF but in those shots either the front or back rose fall out. I considered the option of letting the back rose go but I decided I prefer it sharp.

We are very frightened here about the climate. Our Spring came 5 weeks early this year. My wife and a friend grow Brugmansias which are tropical and can't survive a hard winter freeze. So their common practice is to take cuttings every Fall and root them in the house over winter for planting in the Spring. Our living room and kitchen windows were full of jars and baby Brugs all winter long and last year's Brugs were cut down and thrown on the compost pile. You should have heard my wife on the phone to her friend when she saw last year's Brugs sending up new shoots this Spring, "OMG!! My Brugs didn't die!! The white one's back up in the garden!" Her friend runs outside -- "OMG!! I've got one coming back too!!" This simply doesn't happen.

Every year in the 3rd week of April our Botanical Gardens holds a tulip festival. This year all the tulips had bloomed and gone to seed by the 1st week in April -- the festival was a bust.

Joe