Rose in monochrome

This is a close up photograph of the pink petals of an English rose called ‘Wildeve’, one of my favourites rose models. I don’t have a macro lens, just a button to press, which gives me less control than I’d like on the depth of field. 

When I cropped the image tightly to cut out the green leaves for this week’s Daily Post challenge Monochromatic, the texture of the petals seemed a bit too fleshy or shiny in places (almost like a weird ear. I wondered for a while whether to confess this as I can imagine everyone teasing me and saying ‘where’d ya get that idea?’, but then I thought ‘Just tell them, you’re among friends here’).

I wanted to purge the ear effect so I decided to play around with the image in Photoshop to see if I could soften it and make it more painterly.

I was only looking for a tweak rather than a transformation and I was surprised that the second version with a spatter effect applied is probably my favourite of the three. I increased the spray radius slightly from the default to get a nice soft spatter. The contrast of light and shade pleases me: the way the colour seems to dance on the edge of the petals.

The third version is pretty much what I was originally looking for: a dry brush effect. I took the brush size down a little from the default so the effect is subtle – you might not notice much difference from the original photo, especially if you’re looking at this on a phone.

I’d love to be able to paint, but it’s not going to happen in this lifetime. Taking a picture then dipping into the Photoshop effects toolbox now and again is as close as I’m going to get.

If you have a favourite, let me know – and feel free to tell me if you can’t see any difference at all: I can take it!