My mom planted several azalea bushes on our property in 1971. This red azalea really thrived and produces brilliant blossoms every year. It's pretty amazing when you consider that nobody in my family knows the first thing about gardening and anything planted here might as well be planted in the wild. My mom passed away in December after a 5-year battle with ovarian cancer. Since her azaleas are in full bloom, I thought a photo of the first bush she planted in '71 would be a fitting tribute for today's photo.
Post processing started with a simple pop filter in Topaz Adjust. I then sharpened the petals and water a bit by layering a detail light filter on top of it in soft light blend mode, using a high pass filter at 4 pixels. I then adjusted the levels a bit to darken the background and enhance the contrast in the flowers.
Not sure how I managed to miss this upload, but I noticed the gap today. I upload to three different locations - Smugmug, Facebook, and here - and this was the only location missing this shot.
