A little past their prime

close-up of an artichoke flower in black and white.

Portrait of an aging flower: artichoke flowers past their prime in black and white. Artichokes are a great big thistle and I think they have a wabi-sabi, end-of-summer vibe as they go into bloom. There is a beauty there, like a portrait of an older person with a lot of character instead of a sweet young thing.

Artichokes going into bloom, in black and white. Black and white brings out the textures of the different parts of the flower.
Artichokes past their prime.

We grow artichokes. They are one of those vegetables that really tastes different (delicious) when you pick it fresh. Every year there are one or two that get away from the table.

Black and white artichoke flower processing was done in the GIMP, using its built-in desaturation tools and a vignette. This post describes how to use those tools.

For Brashley Photography’s Mid-week Monochrome, Cee’s Flower of the Day and Wordless (well almost!) Wednesday.

3 Replies to “A little past their prime”

  1. Wabi-sabi is so exactly right.

    [Do you have many Japanese people visit your blog?]

    And I saw you made your work with GIMP.

    Oh – the freshness of the artichoke!

    [they also have a way of helping people with diabetes].