FIRST ROSE

Canon EOS Rebel XS, Canon 50mm 1.8 II lens, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/125 second

  This morning I was walking around the yard looking at my wife Melissa's several groupings of plants and flowers around the yard. I came her miniature rose bush that sits right next to the drive way up against our garage.
  This month we will be married 17 years and this is the first rose bush that I can remember her having. Don't know why. It just is. Maybe she just doesn't like how a rose bush takes over and spreads all over. This particular bush has grown quite a bit since she planted it last spring.
  One thing I noticed when I looked at this bush this morning was that the first flower of the year was blooming on it. Beings that it was a miniature, this flower looked so cute because it was so small compared to the rest of the bush. I had to take a picture of it. The shade from the garage created a perfect even light to catch the contrast of the dark green leaves against the bright beautiful rose.
  After general processing in Photoshop Elements, I imported into OnOne Software's Perfect Effects 3 Free and applied the Brownie effect and neat border. It is the first time I have used this software and I think it really helped make it pop.