I have always looked upon decay as being just as wonderful and rich an expression of life as growth.
___Henry Miller
Like many of you, I am endlessly fascinated with the lush world of flowers and plants. To witness a seed sprout, a flower bloom, a leaf wither and fall, that cycle of life, that promise of birth and death reminds us of the one certainty in our lives. I often find the withering and eventual decay of a flower or leaf just as wondrous as its birth and growth.
And the 17th century European still life painters have long been a source of wonder and inspiration. The details. The soft lighting. The created mood. I knew I wanted to create a “drawing” or “painting” that depicted the “Withering Beauty” of nature and was reminiscent of those early European painters.
I’ve also been thinking about compositing or sandwiching several images to create one. Photoshop is the logical choice for this. But I am no Photoshop expert. Not even close. Coincidentally, while looking for something else, I spotted an old flatbed scanner a friend had given me a few years ago up on a shelf. I recalled people scanning their hands and other body parts and thought, “why wouldn’t this work for plant parts as well.”
To shorten a much longer story, and after some trial and much error, “Withering Beauty,” a composite of five separate scans of plants from our garden, emerged. Each layer tweaked in Photoshop and stacked and arranged and merged into a single image. And then a little more work in Lightroom.
I am pleased with my first botanical florilegium and am anxious to see where this will all lead.
We often forget that WE ARE NATURE. Nature is not something separate from us. So when we say that we have lost our connection to nature, we’ve lost our connection to ourselves.
___ Andy Goldsworthy
anotherday2paradise
15 Mar 2015I love your title, Ron. What gorgeous colours too. It’s amazing how beautiful decaying plants can be. 🙂
fotograffer
16 Mar 2015Thank you Sylvia. I am happy you liked it.
lynnsarda
15 Mar 2015You did it! This is absolutely gorgeous. You accomplished just what you wanted. So pleased.
fotograffer
16 Mar 2015Thanks Lynn. Yes, it came together perfectly.
Katalina4
15 Mar 2015Spectacular! Like an old classical style still life painting. Wonderful
fotograffer
16 Mar 2015Thank you so much. I appreciate your comment.
gabbartrip
15 Mar 2015That’s a beautiful idea!
fotograffer
16 Mar 2015Thank you and thanks for visiting.
Pinetree Photo Nature Discovery
15 Mar 2015Gorgeous! Amazing photo artistry without the class.
fotograffer
16 Mar 2015Thank you Carol. I am pleased but look forward to less trial and error. 🙂
Tina Schell
15 Mar 2015Fantastic Ron – looks like you’re definitely having fun with tools!! This is wonderful
fotograffer
16 Mar 2015Thanks Tina. I have enjoyed expirementing and the results are gratifying.
Madhu
16 Mar 2015You didn’t even use a camera??? That’s amazing Ron!
fotograffer
16 Mar 2015Thanks Madhu. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the scanned image -the soft light and fullness if the image. Not the flat, harshness I expected. I set the scanned to create a tiff file that I imported into Lightroom and then into Photoshop for tweaking. I see myself combining images from both a camera and scanner.
taphian
20 Mar 2015that’s beauty in decay. I love such photos, the wonderful color
fotograffer
21 Mar 2015Thank you and thanks for visiting.
Kristi Gollob
21 Mar 2015Reblogged this on Kristi Gollob's personal website.
fotograffer
21 Mar 2015Thank you.
Dalo 2013
5 Apr 2015Incredible shot Ron, and I agree that this would be a perfect one to expand on in post-production and seeing what comes of it ~
fotograffer
6 Apr 2015This whole process has piqued my interest and I hope to explore it further.