How does each Wednesday’s Flower look so beautiful? The simple answer is, they are naturally beautiful. There is also a bit of a preproduction in developing each blooming flower, and here are some quick notes on how it is done.

Sometimes there is a stand out bloom and other times it takes deliberating to choose which will be this week’s flower.

I shoot between 100-175 images of each single flower from bud to full bloom. After I’m done with the photo shoot, I download the images to my computer and import them into Adobe Lightroom to organize them. The first step is to vet the many images and name them. Then I hand pick my favorite 8-12 images. With the final images selected, I decide which one will be Wednesday’s Flower. Sometimes there is a stand out bloom and other times it takes deliberating to choose which will be each week’s flower.

 

Once I select “the” flower (or Wednesday’s Flower), I “develop” it in Lightroom. I like to use the ‘Auto’ adjust for the highlights, shadows, white and black tones, and then fine tune it. These adjustments help to brighten the image where my lighting may have not been perfect or my camera settings were off a little. Either way, those adjustments, when needed, create an image more true to its original lighting and vibrancy.

From Lightroom, I then import Wednesday’s Flower into Adobe Photoshop. This is where I do more fine tuning and remove any of the minor flaws. I tweak simple things like dark spots or patching a torn petal or leaf or anything glaring that may draw away your attention. Most importantly, I’m not looking to over enhance the bloom. I only want to adjust the image enough, so that those small imperfections don’t distract you from seeing its true allure.

After the final editing is complete, I layout the image into my template and add two different masks of ‘soft tone’ and ‘multiply’. I find the ‘soft tone’ adds a little more of the bloom’s original vivid pop of color and the ‘multiply’ gives it a bit of dimension, since I’m taking something that is three-dimensional and capturing it in a two-dimensional photograph.

Every step taken is done with the purpose of bringing out more of the flower’s original, natural allure, and to remind us of the awe-inspiring beauty and power of flowers and nature.

FEATURED FLOWER
Iceland Poppy. Photographed @ Phoenix, Arizona.

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