A Beautiful Transformation

Transformation is fundamental to the creative process, with paints changing blank canvases into works of art, and fresh ideas becoming new ways of doing things.

And, as people, we can transform ourselves to create the life we want to live.

Nature’s most beautiful creations – flowers – are a great visual for what happens in transformation, from seed to bud to blossom to full bloom to dropping petals to fading glory. They paint their own picture of transformation that for me is as beautiful at the end as at the start.

Nine Days Ago

Nine days ago, I posted about photographing blue hydrangeas and pink cottage roses as golden hour rays poured through my windows.

The flowers were bought that afternoon and with full blooms, were at their peak of what I’d call traditional floral beauty. The blue hydrangeas lived for five days, yet the pink cottage roses continued to stay in bloom much longer. And, today when photographing them in their fading glory, they were no less stunning than the day I brought them home.

From Start to Finish

I love flowers. Simple statement. Strong sentiment. Flowers inspire me with their colors and uniqueness, and I never tire of photographing them in their various phases of life.

When someone sends me flowers, I enjoy their every stage – from the new, perky stems handed over by the delivery person (who understandably always seems a little sad to part with them!) – to later when scissors come out to pare back an aging arrangement – to the end where often I’ll select a few to preserve as dried flowers. They’re beautiful at every transformative stage!

Vibrant to Painterly

Before I get to today and the pink cottage roses, here are a couple of examples of flowers I’ve enjoyed photographing in various phases. Their initial vibrance is equally matched with their painterly softness at the end.

Pink Cottage Roses

So, on to today and the aging pink cottage roses. As a reminder, this is a photo from November 29th in their newness and prime of life.

By today, the flowers had subtly transformed into different shades, with one small bud still youthful, yet full petals of the softest velvet starting to come apart. They were so beautiful I had to photograph them, so I timed it to shoot with the same golden hour glow at dusk.

Lost in the Glory

There are times while photographing something your heart begins to race, and the colors and light have a hypnotic effect as your eye and the camera lens are stunned by a natural beauty. And today was one of those times where I became lost in the glory of these fading pink cottage roses.

At first I posed them more formally, but quickly realized they and their petals needed to be free to fall and drape where they wished. Against a black backdrop, the flowers were shot with a macro lens to maximize foreground detail while allowing all the sumptuous shades of pinks and golds to float in the background. In some of the shots, I added several of the previously preserved gold flowers (the second example shown above).

The photos are presented here in the order shot, and you can tell as the golden light becomes more and more pronounced as total sunset nears.

I was just along for the ride – the flowers did everything with their beautiful nod to a beautiful transformation. I hope you enjoy the photographs as much as I enjoyed the experience of taking them!