A Different Take on a Lily

'Black Beauty' Lily in Digital Desaturation

A Different Take © 2010 Bo Mackison

For almost all of my photography practice, I have tried to stay true to what I photographed. Now I find myself wanting to see what will happen if I increase the clarity a little, decrease the saturation. I use LightRoom exclusively. I never did purchase Photoshop, not because I did’t want to try it,  but because I never managed to save my pile of money earmarked for Photoshop. I always seemed to find another photography related thing I wanted more. Eventually I want to see what Photoshop does at my own hands, but that will be awhile.

Until then I am exclusively using Adobe Lightroom. Haven’t upgraded to LR 3 yet, because I haven’t quite finished figuring  out the basic workings of Lightroom 2.5. I like to putter when I’m working on a photograph. I know there are a multitude of Ligthroom Actions out there — press a button and the software changes your photo in an exactly prescribed way. I haven’t tried those yet — still in basic training, right? — but I imagine I will give the free ones a look eventually. It seems a shame to reject so much progress in a tidy package. Need to at least take a look.

But at this stage in my photography, I’m rather like a tinkerer. “How does it look if I take a bit more red out? What happens if I push that green a little more? And bleed the color from the background and most of the flower?

I experimented with the composition here, too. Let those bulky lily buds play in the front, obscuring the main flower a bit, but I like the feel of seeing the longer branch with multiple lilies as a change. Usually I focus on a single flower.

Any comments about my wanderings in Lightroom? Do you like the different, less textbook look or less macro look? Do you miss the true colors?

And to the photogs out there, if you use Photoshop, do you find it invaluable? And if you do, why? Do you use presets (hear they are the ultimate time saver) or do you prefer to tinker with your photo, bit by bit?

For me, I’m moving slowly on my journey, exploring things as I come to them. Happy with some new attempts, not so happy with others. But, for sure, I never dreamed how far a camera and a dream can take a person.

I have already traveled far, amazingly far, and I’m eager to keep on taking the walk, step by step. So much to see, to consider, to learn, to share.

A Field of Cosmos

A Field of Cosmos at West Madison Test Gardens in Madison Wisconsin

A Field of Cosmos © 2010 Bo Mackison

For a wild, abandoned look of beauty, I love a field of cosmos. They crinkle and dip low to the ground, then spring back. Nothing neat and tidy about cosmos, they always remind me of the “unmade bed” portion of an otherwise well tended garden. I do love these flowers.

Photographed at the West Madison Test Gardens, the experimental garden site of the University of Wisconsin in Madison Wisconsin.

‘Black Beauty’ Lily

'Black Beauty' Lily

'Black Beauty' Lily © 2010 Bo Mackison

I’ve had a visit to the nearby West Madison Test Gardens, a huge experimental garden plot associated with the University of Wisconsin and staffed by numerous volunteers, on my to-go list for months. It’s only a few miles from my home, but it’s in an out of the way location, and it usually is off my radar when I’m contemplating which garden to visit. Yesterday evening, we dallied over pre-dinner snacks and wine. By the time I decided to go shoot, the evening light was disappearing fast. Then I remembered the nearby Test Gardens. Oh my! I am so happy to have re-established my acquaintance with these bountiful gardens.

There were flowers and veggies everywhere, all carefully tended, all labeled to make identification a pleasure. Since some of the varieties are undergoing tests to determine their viability in the Wisconsin clime, not all the plants are available, but ‘Black Beauty’ is an old standard in the lily family, and a popular one, too.  I have a hunch you will be seeing many more flowers from the Test Gardens on Seeded Earth.

The lilies were blooming everywhere. This ‘Black Beauty’ lily was at the entrance, only a few steps from the parking lot, and I loved shooting this deep purple beauty. One of the Oriental Lily hybrids, ‘Black Beauty’ can have as many as 40 flowers on a single stem. The blooms are dark wine red, with a green star mark in the center.

Red Poppy

Poppy Macro-photograph

Red Poppy © 2010 Bo Mackison

Macro photograph of red poppy, taken at International Boundary Park on the British Columbia, Canada/Washington border.

Lilies in Shadow

Lilies at Chicago Botanic Garden

Lilies in Shadow © 2010 Bo Mackison

Most of the lilies at the Chicago Botanic Gardens are front and center in the main garden, framed in multiple square ponds, and offset by summery plantings. There are  purple water lilies, pink ones, blue ones, even bright magenta water lilies. But I found these lilies on a lesser traveled path, up and beyond the conifer plantings. Not many people wander this far off the main paths.

These lilies offer a different feel compared to their brightly lit cousins. I love these pale lilies, quietly dressed in shadowy reflections. My favorite of all the lilies I photographed that day.