Garden Bouquet

Flowers From My Garden and Mom's Tea Cup

You know, sometimes snapping the shot and trying to 'get it right in the camera', is just not enough for me.  Don't get me wrong, I love taking pretty pictures and I try to improve my 'in camera' skills, but sometimes that just doesn't satisfy my creative side.  I'm one of those photographers who love the artistic possibilities that technology has given us, and sometimes I find great satisfaction in using a photo as a starting point, and then creating my interpretation of the image.  

I was enjoying my garden this morning and decided I wanted to remember my peonies and yellow roses before they disappeared.  As I snipped a few and stuck them in a green plastic glass and set them on the counter, I remembered how much my mother loved flowers and gardening, which she did until about 6 months before her death at age 96.  Growing up in California where we had flowers year round, she would always have a camellia or two floating in a bowl of water, or a single hibiscus or gardenia, or a couple of roses in a bud vase, adorning our kitchen table.  But only a few at a time, because she would really rather enjoy them outdoors in their natural setting.  As I looked at my bouquet, I remembered a tea cup of my mom's, that complimented the colors of my flowers.  (She collected tea cups and was a china painter.)  I added the cup and saucer to my composition and took my photo.  When I downloaded it to the computer, it just begged me to add some editing pizazz, and the above photo is the result.  Below is the shot SOOTC (straight out of the camera). 

(In addition to the dust specks and light switch detracting from this composition, it is also under exposed.)