Bob Legg  

Granite Rose by Bob Legg

April 2026 - Granite Rose

April 2026 - Bob Legg

Original

About the Image(s)

In my back yard (Central NH) I have a large Granite boulder that the contractors left behind. I’ve cleaned it up (removing dirt) physically and digitally. See original image. The ancient glaciers rounded and smoothed the edges but those didn’t fit into this composition. Along the glacial path a large crack with quartz filling were added. Of course, I took a photo of the boring crack as a background and made a composite, in this case with a rose bud. The boulder was shot at iso 800, f 11, 1/125 sec at 122mm on my 28-300 Nikon lens. Yes, my exercise program mandates I use that heavy lens as my walk around lens with my Nikon D780 Full frame camera. I made a composite of the rose and boulder so that the rose stem comes out of the crack and texture is transparent. Does anyone have any other rock solid ideas for its use? Yes, I used the AI Remove tool to remove the brown damage to the rock and rotated..

9 comments posted

Meredith Bain   Meredith Bain
Clever use of a boulder Bob.
Personally, I would like to have more clarity on the rosebud so that it can star in the image rather than be dominated by the texture of the boulder. I have done very little composite editing so am not sure of how difficult or easy this would be. The bud resting on the crack was a good composition decision.   Posted: 04/11/2026 05:37:58
Bob Legg   Bob Legg
Thank you Meredith. I appreciate you suggestion (maybe unknowingly) to make a mask of the Rose bud so that the composite texture is blocked. I'll try it and report back. Not likely today. Yardwork today.   Posted: 04/11/2026 13:38:17
Donna Sturla   Donna Sturla
It's an interesting image with lots of texture; I do agree with Meredith that the lack of the clarity on the rosebud is distracting, but that's what drew you to it.
Looking at your original, it's hard to see where the rosebud was ! Amazing that you found it. I think the crack could be softened so the rose is more the subject rather than the crack. But I wouldn't delete it .   Posted: 04/11/2026 07:43:53
Bob Legg   Bob Legg
Thanks Donna, I'll try to composite with mask covering the rock texture. I know what you and Meredith mean and I'll try to do it.   Posted: 04/11/2026 13:41:35
Bob Legg   Bob Legg
Still was a little chilly to do outside work so I did this. Many blending options didn't work, but dissolve did. I'm afraid some will think it pasted on so there should be another one, that lets some opacity reveal rock thru flower. I removed the flower from its garden setting put the layer in Ps and tried the various blends.   Posted: 04/11/2026 15:15:10
Comment Image
Donna Sturla   Donna Sturla
OMG, way too sharp. I think something in between the two (your first image and this one) might work better. It's a difficult subject to photograph !   Posted: 04/13/2026 08:15:35
Susan Ribeiro   Susan Ribeiro
You have an interesting concept between your two subjects.
The crack in the granite reminds me of a stem. Did you consider putting the rosebud on the end of the crack?

Without the crack being there, the composite image leaves me with an impression of the rosebud being under a frozen lake. That section reminds me of impressionist paintings using pointillism. I find the colors pleasing.   Posted: 04/14/2026 04:54:29
Bob Legg   Bob Legg
Thanks Susan. Welcome to the group. I was waiting to read bio before commenting. I'm old school (really) and enjoyed your path down digital art. Have to run so I don't miss Oak Island. I didn't really consider placing bud on the crack. Bud I might try it, I love the DD so that ideas like that can be productive. Have to run. I do quite a bit of impressionism images, particularly flowers.   Posted: 04/15/2026 00:51:34
Susan Ribeiro   Susan Ribeiro
Thanks, Bob :)
I recently joined a local photo club and found it so inspiring to exchange ideas!
So groups are new to me. I'm looking forward to expanding my knowledge by learning and sharing within the group.

I caught your pun, there, lol.
  Posted: 04/15/2026 11:16:40

 

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