When the rose is faded

When the rose is faded,
Memory may still dwell on
Her beauty shadowed,
And the sweet smell gone.

That vanishing loveliness,
That burdening breath,
No bond of life hath then,
Nor grief of death.

'Tis the immortal thought
Whose passion still
Makes the changing
The unchangeable.

Oh, thus thy beauty,
Loveliest on earth to me,
Dark with no sorrow, shines
And burns, with thee.

Walter de la Mare

[Peter]

re RAW shooting, 2 main benefits: between 2-4 stops of dynamic range over jpeg; if you have the raw file you can return to it later as editing tools improve.

[Issi Bannerman]

@pjtphoto Thanks Peter! I'm still sticking with it. I do appreciate that point and I realise it's the 'right' thing to do! :-)

[~*~ Jo ~*~]

Lovely capture

[Smitha]

Beautiful capture to go with beautiful words.

[KWind]

Pretty...great focus and lighting.

[Issi Bannerman]

@ziggy77 @smithak @kwind Thank you! Getting lots of mileage out of these roses!

[🐞Lucy Dolittle]

Lovely image, great reflection and focus. Super poem, perfect for the shot

[Joy Maguire]

Beautiful capture and focus

[Linda]

Very nice composition. Really like the reflections and the negative spacce above. Lovely poem too.

[Stephanie Swift]

Beautiful capture Issi, fav for me, and a beautiful poem to go with it--thank-you!

[Paula W]

Wonderful image to match the words Issi.

[Jennifer]

Lovely shot, love the reflection and light,

[Judith Greenwood]

Fabulous - I think I'm at the same stage as this rose.

[Milanie]

I'm getting to like these dead roses better than live ones. What great light and texture - and love the empty space with your composition.

[Kathryn 🐎]

Very lovely shot with the reflections too. Love the poem.

[Issi Bannerman]

@lucypics @almondjoy1 @happysnap @tristansmum @paulaw @jesperani @milaniet @bristolrose Thanks everyone for your kind comments on my fading rose.
@judithg I know the feeling! :-)

[Sue Hecker]

There's something about a fading rose that touches a chord. Just lovely.

[Michelle]

Gorgeous!

[Denise (lyndemc)]

Ditto on what many have said already about this being a beautiful image with its reflection and creative composition. I also like the one loose petal set apart from the rose. It provides a strong visual of the rose's fading away process. A fav for me. And something I'd like to try and replicate some day.

I'm so glad you stopped in for a peek at my Peppermint candy pic. That introduced you and your photography to me! Thanks too for the fav on it.

[Taffy]

Like so many others, it's a beautiful image and I really like the way you've used subtle reflections to enhance the rose's beauty.

[Robyn]

Beautiful photo and processing, although your words made me sad. Fav

[Issi Bannerman]

@featherstone @mtpagano @lyndemc @taffy @flyrobin Thanks everyone for the lovely comments and favs. I can't bring myself to throw these roses out quite yet!