Of course spring flowers are glorious in their own right. We love to see them both for their beauty and because they herald summer days to come.
Blossom by blossom the spring begins
Algernon Charles Swinburne
But I’ve shared so many in the past. I’ve been Inspired by spring blossoms; I celebrated The magnificent magnolias of March; I challenged you to appreciate Spring sunshine in monochrome; and I shared April in my home suburb of Ealing.
So when Terri asked to see some fabulous seasonal florals for our Sunday Stills challenge this week, I wanted to do something different. I’ve discussed many times here the merits and demerits of photo editing. There’s the sort that can trick the viewer into thinking things weren’t as they were; the sky wasn’t that blue, an ugly powerline has been removed, etc. But then there’s the sort that turns a simple image into something totally different. In the past that took a lot of time and skill, but today we have access to all sorts of apps and photo software that can do the trick for us.
PhotoSpiralysis
My latest fun discovery is an app called PhotoSpiralysis. It creates a Droste effect with multiple versions of your photo within a single image. I first read about this in Sue Butler’s excellent blog. I loved the images she was creating and just had to have a go myself. The app allows you to get creative with various settings, controlling the number of spirals, magnification, offsetting the centre and more. I find it best just to keep fiddling until I achieve an effect I like.
Most of the following shots were created from flower photos I took recently in Portugal, where the spring flowers are simply glorious! I’ve also thrown in a few from Costa Rica, including my feature photo above of a bougainvillea. Some of the images have been slightly further tweaked for colour and softness in Photoshop and/or Color Efex Pro.
Red poppy in the garden of Tavira Castle
Cloud forest flower in Costa Rica
Orange poppy in the garden of Tavira Castle
Bougainvillea in Tavira
Bougainvillea in Faro
Hibiscus in Costa Rica
Clematis in Tavira
In a garden at Praia do Faro
Daisies in Praia do Faro
White poppy in the garden of Tavira Castle
41 Comments
giacomoasinello
Sacred geometry at its best! Lovely and very timely on this last day of a cold but very lovely Italian April!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you 😊 Lovely but with a rather chilly breeze here in London too!
SJ Butler
I love these Sarah especially ‘In a garden at Praia do Faro’ 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you, that’s one of my favourites 🙂 It was such a striking flower that it was easy to create quite a dramatic effect!
Wind Kisses
What a fabulous interpretation to Florals this week. The macro spirals take flowers to a whole new dimension. Very nice.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Donna – I’m fascinated how some people really like these, as I do, while others think flower photos are lovely enough in their own right and shouldn’t be meddled with 🙂
wetanddustyroads
Wow Sarah, you give a whole new dimension to the wonderful flower! The softness of the white poppy is beautiful, but I found the bougainvillea in Tavira the most amazing!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much – the white poppy is one of my own favourites 😀
rosalieann37
Some of them (the daisies and the hibiscus and the bougainvillea in Faro) would make fabulous repeated prints for wallpaper or fabric. But I don’t like the ones at the top – they look bloated and not flower-like. Fun to play with though.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Rosalie 🙂 You can get such varied effects by tweaking the settings in this app that some are bound to appeal more than others I guess. I rejected several that just didn’t work for me at all! I see what you mean about fabric or wallpaper designs.
lisaonthebeach
Wow! These are very cool, very beautiful, Sarah! 💙💚💛
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Lisa, glad you liked them 😊 They’re not to everyone’s taste however!
SoyBend
Oooh! Cool effects, Sarah. I especially liked the bougainvillea.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Siobhan, the bright colours do really bring out the effects don’t they? Although I think personally I like best the more subtle hibiscus and white poppy ones 🙂
Annie Berger
As someone else already mentioned, Phil and Michaela’s comment about the photos looking kaleidoscopic is bang on in my opinion. Like seeing the altered photos but I, too, am firmly of the old school, Sarah.
Sarah Wilkie
I’m loving how this post has sparked some controversy, with some (the majority??) liking these edits and others like you not so keen. As I said to Jo, you don’t have to choose between these or the originals, I think we can enjoy both but in different ways. Forget that they are flowers (I could have used anything colourful) and see them as abstract patterns 🙂
bushboy
So good Sarah 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Brian – although it seems not everyone agrees with you 😆
bushboy
Some have no sense of adventure 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
🤣🤣
Rose
The last spiral of the White poppy in the garden of Tavira Castle, is dreamy.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Rose, that’s possibly my favourite too 🙂
restlessjo
Hate to be negative but by and large I don’t really like these. The originals are so beautiful. I guess I’m a bit old school. I do like the hibiscus in Costa Rica and the garden at Praia de Faro and I appreciate that it’s fun to experiment, Sarah. Always happy in our castle gardens.
Sarah Wilkie
You’re not alone Jo – see Margaret’s comment below. The originals are indeed beautiful of course 😀 But I don’t see it as either/or, I think we can enjoy both and personally I find these lovely too as long as you look at them as colourful abstracts rather than as flower photos. We found those castle gardens really lovely, I’ll have plenty of proper flower photos to share from there!
restlessjo
It’s not a criticism, Sarah. Just exactly the same as I said about humour. It’s subjective and a matter of taste. I can never agree with my husband regarding a piece of artwork but I do like the 2 that I mentioned. The others just don’t appeal, whereas I would almost never not appreciate a flower. 🤗🌸🌹🌻💟
Sarah Wilkie
Completely understood Jo – and after all, ALL photography is subjective 😍🤗
restlessjo
🤣💟
leightontravels
I could’t agree more with Phil and Michaela’s comment, some of the images are very kaleidoscopic. Seems like a lot of fun!
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, great fun, and definitely kaleidoscopic!
thehungrytravellers.blog
I felt as if I was looking at a kaleidoscope scrolling through those!
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, some in particular reminded me of a kaleidoscope too 😀
Stephanie
Fun!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Stephanie 😊
Aletta - nowathome
Wow! It is amazing!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Aletta, I thought so too!
margaret21
I think these applications are a lot of fun for the user, but I remain a little curmudgeonly about them. These are cheery and colourful, but I think your original photos would probably have been even nicer.
Sarah Wilkie
I know you’re not a fan of this sort of fiddling – we can’t all like the same things 😆 The originals are very pretty, it’s true, and I’m sharing those in my various Portugal posts, but I confess I love these too 🙂
margaret21
It’s great that we’re all different: and that we get to see the originals too.. Win-win!
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, looking through all the comments opinion is definitely divided! Maybe slightly weighted towards liking them but only slightly. Look out for the Tavira originals in a future (soon) Monday Walk post 🙂
Terri Webster Schrandt
Wow, Sarah, I’m sure your florals were gorgeous in their own right, but I love the spiral edit on these. I always appreciate an edit spin on the theme challenges which is what makes this so much fun. I’m especially fond of the daisies and poppy images!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Terri. Some of the originals were in my Praia do Forte post and I’ll be sharing the Tavira ones in an upcoming one. The garden at the castle there was especially lovely!