During the periodic brief rains yesterday (which didn't amount to anything except running me out of the garden), I collected a few flowers to play with a
scanner photograph or two. I had forgotten over the past couple of years, during times of peak bloom, to try this method, and I had forgotten the lovely effects one can create. This scan of 'Madame Hardy', taken against the backdrop of one of Mrs. ProfessorRoush's blouses (sssshhh, don't tell her!), is a simple and lovely composition, despite my lack of proper photo editing skills and the rudimentary software I have for doing it. If you've ever wondered, most of the photographs on this blog are not edited beyond cropping and compressing to be posted.
I was just playing yesterday, and in a bit of a hurry, as you can see from the photo at the left. Haste makes waste on these scanner photographs and you've got to have everything arranged just so. Folded petals don't help the image, nor do insects or wet flowers or pollen falling from the stamens. Still, in this picture, you should be able to find 'Honorine de Brabant', 'Alchymist', 'Variegata di Bologna', 'Allegra', 'Gallicandy', 'Survivor', 'Mountain Music', 'Duchesse de Montibello', 'Alfred de Dalmas', 'Prairie Clogger', and a couple of unknown reds. I tried to choose the best flowers, but even the flowers I thought were perfect, like the 'Madame Hardy' above, have some rain-browned edges on closeup. Rats.
Of course, to get rid of the imperfections, one can always move to the more abstract, as in this paint.net modification (using the "dents" setting) of another 'Madame Hardy' scan set against a black background. This one would make a fine stained-glass window, don't you agree?
Or, one could go with an ethereal look. This almost all white image of 'Madame Hardy' would have been better if I could have figured out a way to get the white background while also pressing down on the flowers to improve focus. Maybe next time. Oh, and happy Memorial Day, everyone!
