A Rose By Any Other Name

Roses are beautiful both in color and shape. When you look carefully at a bed of rose bushes, you will find many different variations of shapes. This one had a lovely spiral at the center, and sweeping petals surrounding it.

The color was a lovely soft peach, and that was going to be the version for today's blog. But when I looked at it more carefully, I thought that perhaps it would look softer and more dimensional in black and white. So I began experimenting with it in Lightroom.

Sure enough, this black and white version really appealed to me. It was a quick and easy transition from color to black and white in Lightroom. I used the B&W controls in the "HSL / Color / B&W " section in the Develop module. When you click on B&W in the heading, the image is converted to black and white. But that is just the beginning. By moving the color sliders in that box, you can control the lightness or darkness of any colors in the original image. Lightroom still "sees" the image in color, even though we see it in black and white.

I wanted a very light, ethereal look and because the predominant color was peach, moving the red slider lightened the rose nicely. I also reduced Clarity to -30 to create a softer look. A few finishing touches with the Whites, Blacks, Highlights, and Shadows sliders, and the final image was created.

TECHNICAL DATA
Shutter Speed 1/1250 sec.  Aperture f/2.8.  ISO 200.  Lens: Canon 100mm f/2.8L IS macro.  Camera: Canon 7D Mark II.  Handheld.

TODAY'S QUOTE: "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."  --William Shakespeare