I went out in the backyard and noticed that my one rose bush was finally starting to bloom.  I decided that I would try to capture some images of the roses.  The lighting was not fantastic for flower photography but I did manage to get some nice shots.  Despite that, when I really started to look at the images they just seemed to lack something; there was no umph to the photo, if that makes sense.  The colors were pretty, but the photo was just so so.  This particular image, for example, I liked the composition and the angle of the flower but the color just distracted me.  I really wanted to emphasize the petals which just lacked punch in color.  I converted the image to monochrome and the photo immediately took life.  Here is the final product, which I have called, “The Midnight Rose.”

The Midnight Rose
Nikon D600 with Nikkor 105 mm
1/200th sec, f/9, ISO 400
Post-processing with Lightoom 5 and Silver Efex Pro 2