Editing is like cooking in comparison. Some people are just a natural born cook, that would be me! Other’s can try and try to become great cooks, but they can never master the art of cooking. I learned to cook at an early age, often standing on a stool in my grandmother’s kitchen watching over the pots of boiling vegetables from the garden. I also hung-out with my Great Aunt Sammie Rayle as a child, she was not a cook! She was a wonderful school teacher and she had sister’s that were really good cooks, but my Aunt Sammie would burn hamburgers and toast every time. She taught me at an early age that grapefruits with a lot of sugar was a breakfast of champions (no cooking needed). Aunt Sammie had good intentions of cooking and I was aware of that when I helped clean out her pantry; she had 6 containers of unopened Hershey’s Cocoa. Funny thing, I can never remember her cooking anything with cocoa! So I figured out real quick at an early age, cooking was a survival skill I needed!
So what does photo editing and cooking have in common; as much as you can train your eye for editing, some people are just naturally born with that talent. Now, I’m not passing judgement on anyone, a bad cook can become an okay cook with time and practice, but a natural born cook can become a great cook over time. Same with editing, I have an artist eye or I have been told by many people that I have “an eye” for photography. Even my macro work has emotions captured in a lot of images - the kind that you feel connected to when you see a beautiful bloom of a flower. What I have struggled with is making those tiny adjustments in my edits to really get everything I can out of an image! Post-production can drive you crazy! Just like cooking, you can burn an image or you can serve it undercooked.
Butter and eggs in a field in Elbert County. I understand these bulbs were probably planted about 100 years ago.
This beautiful bloom has textures added, desaturation of the background, a little light added in the right corner - but not over done in my opinion. BUT remember the maker (that’s me) of the image can see things totally different than the audience (that’s you). What do I love about this and does it have a story? For beginners, this is a field of daffodils that was planted sometimes around the early 1900’s. I could tell from the line of trees that a house probably stood in this location. It appears the field - and I mean a large area of beautiful blooms was to the side of the house that once stood in this location. The gardener at this time planted these for their enjoyment. I can imagine they were used on Easter Sunday morning for church services and decorated the tables for picnics following services during the blooming season. What the “investor” did not realize that 100 plus years, a stranger to the property would still be enjoying their investment into the earth. The story of conservation is real; we are here on this earth as a caretaker to invest in the future.
When I stood at this location and looked across the field, I immediately thought about children running through the blooms or a handsome young man picking a handful for his date that evening. There is a romantic side of a field of blooms that has been neglected through the years. I wanted this image to look like a painting because when I saw all those blooms scattered across the field, it immediately looked like an impressionist era painting. I wanted a painterly look, but not overdone.
Do you have a story to tell about your favorite flower and what to learn more about floral photography? I am hosting a series of workshops for the beginner, intermediate and advanced photographer this summer. For more information, click on the link. In the subject line “Blooms”. Class size will be limited to 6 students for beginners.