Your Looks Are Laughable. Unphotographable.

Faded valentine. 

This is one of my valentine's day roses, dried out a bit by now, past their best.  I spent a couple of hours moving the vase around the house to get a decent photo.  The urgency is that I needed (well, wanted) four images to submit for an open competition at my photographic club.  Deadline is next Friday but I'm going on holiday tomorrow. 

I posted this weeks later as its the 25th today, I confess, and know by now that this did diddly squat in the competition.   I lost points for the sticky out bit at the back of the rose and the light on the stalk coming from the left.  What I have learned is every judge who comes to the club assumes that everyone uses photo editing software.  Their critiques always follow a theme of 'you should've darkened/lightened/removed here'.  Looks like I'm gonna have to invest in Photoshop.

My Funny Valentine - Chet Baker, 1959