A Rose Is Still A Rose No Matter How You Photograph It

“O wow! We gotta stop.”

My wife sounded the alarm as we were driving on a very wet and cloudy spring day. We had just passed the rose garden at Mesa Community College. The colors were just bursting out and jumping out onto to the road that made us stare in disbelief as we whizzed by.

“Pull over or we are going to hit someone.” She cried out again.

“We do not have any of our camera gear with us,” I said, as we pulled into the parking lot next to the garden. Waiting for the down pour of rain to stop we planned our next course of action as we viewed this amazing site from the car window.

A Rose Is Still A Rose No Matter How You Photograph It

Everything was perfect. Cloudy overcast day with rain is just what the doctor ordered when it comes to photographing flowers. Those days are rare in the deserts of Arizona let me tell you.

My wife and I have been professional photographers for many years, so we know what it takes to capturing great looking images in many different elements.

We decided to have some fun and take our time dodging rain drops and just use our cell phones. We both have been wanting to experiment with the built-in camera on our iPhone’s.

It was cool out and rain drops were on all the roses and best of all we had very diffused lighting because of the cloud cover. The light was very even and gives a delicate feel to whatever you photograph.

Cell Phone Photography

No one else was in the garden because of the rain so we had the whole place to ourselves. When it got heavy we would get back in the car and marvel over the images we just took (isn’t digital just grand) and, when the rain let up, out we would go again.

This cat mouse game with the elements lasted for a couple of hours. We did not want to stop and would squeal back and forth to each other at the next colorful rose we each just discovered.

I am a photographer at heart but I am also a graphic artist. I love taking images and combining them with text to tell a more complete visual story. These are small packets that infuse a couple of human senses at once.

When we arrived home…

…that late afternoon we were both tired but happy campers. One thing I have always loved about photographing in the elements was that it gave us an excuse to get back outdoors and explore God’s creation.

Capturing a little sliver of time on this planet so we can revisit it over and over again is precious to us both.

And of course, the most beautiful rose of them all is my wife. She is my life partner, fellow world explorer through our love of photography and most of all, seeker of the truth in God and Jesus.