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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirty Three: Using light and color to define and contrast textures > Yellow Rose, Portland Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon, 2006
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13-JUN-2006

Yellow Rose, Portland Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon, 2006

Portland is known for its roses – perhaps because of all the moisture in the air. It’s the moisture that gives this image much of its tactile expression. The center of the rose seems to be smiling as beads of rain moisten its petals. The texture on the surface of these petals is enhanced by the vivid primary colors, energizing this huge rose held under our nose. It stirs the senses, waiting to be touched and smelled.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30
1/200s f/5.6 at 7.4mm iso200 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time13-Jun-2006 10:48:24
MakePanasonic
ModelDMC-FZ30
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length7.4 mm
Exposure Time1/200 sec
Aperturef/5.6
ISO Equivalent200
Exposure Bias-0.33
White Balance (10)
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis31-Jan-2007 01:05
I wanted you to smell this picture, Suwanee -- the more senses we can involve, the more the imagination works, and the stronger the expression can become. Thanks for this wonderful comment.
Guest 30-Jan-2007 23:45
I also see the smiling face now, it adds a whole new dimension to this image after reading your comment. It definitely gives life and expression to the rose. How clever of you to have noticed that! With the shot so close to the flower, all the details are so vivid and definitely I can smell it by looking at it.
Phil Douglis05-Sep-2006 17:43
I passed by many a rose that morning, Ana, that looked like like a rose. This one was, as you say, too intense and peachy to be a rose, and it was smiling. All the more reason to photograph it, right? What you are seeing here, of course, are incongruities, and that is what I look for when I look for subjects to photograph.
Ana Carloto O'Shea05-Sep-2006 10:34
You should not have mentioned the smile, because now when I look at it I don't even see the rose, just a cartoon like extra smilling face!!
It's funny to see this happening.. how a comment can really change our perception of things.
Those colors are also not very rose like. Too intense and peachy, but this was probably one of the reasons why I found it interesting and of course that smile can really brighten one's boring day at the office ;)
Phil Douglis05-Sep-2006 02:36
The smiling peach makes all the difference here, Ceci and Christine. Yet it seems to have been weeping as well. Perhaps those could be tears of joy? Thank you both these comments. I am glad it makes you think of peaches, Ceci. And I am delighted that you see this image, Christine, as not your typical rose.
Christine P. Newman04-Sep-2006 20:45
Phil, We see so many pictures of roses, some amazing, others average. Your comment, bringing to our attention the smile within the rose, is what makes the difference.
Guest 01-Sep-2006 22:18
Bring out the bib! You have made an unassailable connection to fruit in this luscious picture, all I can think of is fresh sliced peaches and the fragrance that would rise up into my nose. There is a thickness and substance to these petals that almost beg to be consumed. And I love the smile in the center!
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