Yesterday morning as I left for my 5-mile hike at 8:30 AM I passed my neighbor’s roses, bright red and shining gloriously in the sunlight. They were so gorgeous I absolutely had to take a few photos, even though I knew in such bright light the colors would be difficult to render accurately. Still, I tried a few different angles and hoped for the best.

Later, I brought them up in my photo editing software. My goal was not to artificially enhance the look of the images, but to match the real-life colors I’d seen (that’s what I normally try to do when I edit my photos). With that in mind, I went back outside and a short way down the sidewalk and found a fallen petal to bring back home for comparison. After two full days of very energetic south wind, only one red rose still survives.

In shaded sunlight, on my windowsill

I’m still not sure the rich blood-red at the edge and the bright lemon-yellow at the base of this petal show up accurately on a computer screen (I know there are loads of variables to contend with), but it was fun playing with the editor, matching the colors on the screen with those in my hand as much as possible.

And if I’ve managed to share with you even just a hint of how beautiful those now-vanished roses were in the morning sun, then I’m satisfied. 🙂