I have birthday at the beginning of January and I always get some flower(s) from my colleagues when we get back to work after Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Two years ago I used the flower in my 52-week photo project, then last year I used it at the beginning of my still life project. Have you seen (and remembered) those photos?
It started to feel like tradition and I didn’t want to make this year any exception. The thing is though that as I get the flower usually on Monday and can’t shoot it until weekend, the shooting is quite a difficult job because the flower gradually fades and its petals start to fall off.
This year I experimented a bit more and created two versions – dark and light.
They are not perfect but taught me a lot which I’m grateful for.
Then I experimented with the light version a bit more and created two more images with a different feel.
In Lightroom I used virtual copies for creating and working with these other versions, it’s exactly what virtual copies are for and I recommend using them. BEWARE though. When you delete the source image for your virtual copy, the virtual copy is deleted as well without Lightroom (at least Lightroom 5) asking your permission and you may not recover it.
Well, tradition is tradition, so hopefully next year I will show you more…
It's fun to play in Lightroom! I like the first light version. Getting flowers is a nice tradition to continue.
Barb, thank you. Lightroom has taught me a lot not only about editing but also about light and colours and moods, it’s a wonderful tool to work with.
I thought I liked the dark version best until I came to the light one … so I guess I really like them both! How wonderful for you with a January birthday to always receive such beautiful flowers.
Susan, thank you, I’m pleased to hear you like both of the versions!
I’m grateful for those flowers, they bring colours to the winter’s grey, at least for a few days…
Both are very lovely. Happy Birthday and how sweet to get flowers every year….
Nancy, thank you very much! One quickly forgets and it’s nice to remember the beauty and kindness in this way.
The flower arrangement from your colleagues is beautiful! I love the lighting on it, with the dark background. And you created some beautiful edits from the flowers and your props.
Linda, thank you! When I was creating the dark photo I saw that the black cloth that I used for the background wasn’t black enough because it was reflecting too much light… I corrected it in Lightroom but it’s definitely something to work on!
Lovely pink flowers. Visiting from Kim Klassen's Be Still – One Year Wiser class.
Diana, thank you for visiting my blog and leaving your comment, nice to meet you.
I have a problem with this one, since I'm personally not very fond of high-key photos. It is just one of those things. But if I should choose, I would pick the first one due to the richness of the colours.
Rune, I like high-key photos and this was a bit of experimenting that I liked though the results aren’t perfect. I understand that not everybody likes it as well, that’s OK. Thanks for your opinion.
I like the unique, stylish and elegant composition you have in second image. Well done!
Gunn, thank you. I was so sad that the flower was fading when I had time at last to take some photos of it so I tried to use it anyway. I’m glad I did and I’m pleased you like the image.