Brushstroke ~ Knock Out Rose
Image © 2011/Denise Ippolito Photography

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I went out to a garden center the other day to photograph mums. I had been thinking of photographing mums and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some. As it turns out I couldn’t resist the Knock Out Roses that were hanging out in the back taking second stage to the more seasonal flowers. This often happens to me, I get side tracked by something that catches my eye. The soft coral colored blooms with the golden yellow centers just begged me to photograph them.

After creating several straight shots I did what I often do, I shot some blurs and some abstracts. After I studied the rose I realized that the one sepal is what was captivating me so I decided to make that the highlight of my image. Then I saw a piece of wood nearby that had all kinds of lines on it. I “pruned” the rose bush and put the bloom on its side across the board and got on the ground to photograph it. (I don’t recommend doing this at garden centers- this center belonged to my good friend) I liked the idea of the textured background but it needed something more. In Fractalius I added a glow treatment to the rose along with an accented edges filter in Photoshop. I also found this fantastic free texture called “brushstrokes” the other day and I felt it would be perfect for my rose. See the link below. I used the soft light blend mode and revealed a bit of the rose from beneath. I know the colors are a bit saturated but I just loved the old world feel and the bright colors mixed together.

Free Brushstroke:  http://firesign24-7.deviantart.com/art/Brush-stroke-texture-123965652

You can see Denise's website at www.deniseippolito.com.