PhotoSpiralysis effect on a deep purple flower
Flowers,  Photographic techniques,  Sunday Stills,  Themed galleries

Gallery: fabulous florals in a spin

Of course spring flowers are glorious in their own right. We love to see them both for their beauty and because they herald summer days to come.

Blossom by blossom the spring begins

Algernon Charles Swinburne

But I’ve shared so many in the past. I’ve been Inspired by spring blossoms; I celebrated The magnificent magnolias of March; I challenged you to appreciate Spring sunshine in monochrome; and I shared April in my home suburb of Ealing.

So when Terri asked to see some fabulous seasonal florals for our Sunday Stills challenge this week, I wanted to do something different. I’ve discussed many times here the merits and demerits of photo editing. There’s the sort that can trick the viewer into thinking things weren’t as they were; the sky wasn’t that blue, an ugly powerline has been removed, etc. But then there’s the sort that turns a simple image into something totally different. In the past that took a lot of time and skill, but today we have access to all sorts of apps and photo software that can do the trick for us.

PhotoSpiralysis

My latest fun discovery is an app called PhotoSpiralysis. It creates a Droste effect with multiple versions of your photo within a single image. I first read about this in Sue Butler’s excellent blog. I loved the images she was creating and just had to have a go myself. The app allows you to get creative with various settings, controlling the number of spirals, magnification, offsetting the centre and more. I find it best just to keep fiddling until I achieve an effect I like.

Most of the following shots were created from flower photos I took recently in Portugal, where the spring flowers are simply glorious! I’ve also thrown in a few from Costa Rica, including my feature photo above of a bougainvillea. Some of the images have been slightly further tweaked for colour and softness in Photoshop and/or Color Efex Pro.

PhotoSpiralysis effect on a dark red flower

Red poppy in the garden of Tavira Castle


PhotoSpiralysis effect on a yellow and orange flower

Cloud forest flower in Costa Rica


PhotoSpiralysis effect on an orange flower

Orange poppy in the garden of Tavira Castle


PhotoSpiralysis effect on a pink flower

Bougainvillea in Tavira


PhotoSpiralysis effect on a pink flower

Bougainvillea in Faro


PhotoSpiralysis effect on a pale pink flower

Hibiscus in Costa Rica


PhotoSpiralysis effect on a cream and purple flower

Clematis in Tavira


PhotoSpiralysis effect on a white flower with touches of orange and purple

In a garden at Praia do Faro


PhotoSpiralysis effect on a white and yellow flower

Daisies in Praia do Faro


PhotoSpiralysis effect on a white flower

White poppy in the garden of Tavira Castle

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