Yellow rose in low light.

This rose was one of the flowers my husband gave me for Valentine's day this year. It was a bit past its best when I photographed it, so I decided to give it a low key, soft focus effect.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/6.3, 1/2s, 90mm, tripod, natural light & a reflector.

Sparkling pink rose (2)

This is an alternative view to the one I posted on the 15th Jan. I prefer this one out of the two - the composition is better and I like the bokeh produced by the out of focus water droplets on the left and top right.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/18, 1/3s, 90mm, tripod and ring light.

Sparkling pink rose

Here's another one from my macro shoot at home last week, using a tripod, macro lens and ring light. I love this one - the different pink tones and the sparkling water drops - some in focus, some not. If I could change anything, in hindsight, I'd position the tightest point of the petals further down the picture - it feels a bit cramped so close to the top!

No post production work done at all this time.

Monochrome rose

I got a few bits of macro kit for Christmas this year and this is the first shot I took in my first play with them last week! I used a ring light, tripod and macro lens, set up in my front room. I really want to work out how to get great black and white shots and show how different angles and depths of field can represent a flower in so many different ways.

In Lightroom I tweaked exposure and contrast and added a slight dark vignette after converting to monochrome.

Wilting rose

I took this in my garden in July last year. The backdrop was a shady stone wall, which just came out as black (pleasingly!) in the shot. As I've mentioned before, for some reason I prefer to photograph dying flowers, particularly roses. It's a different kind of beauty...

I reduced exposure and increased contrast in Lightroom.

Pink rose

This is a pink rose in my garden from July this year. I like to photograph roses when they're past their 'best' - curling and dropping slightly. I like the imperfections.

I increased exposure and contrast slightly post-production.