The Last, Loveliest Smile

Posted By:

Muhammad Hassan (Instagram)

How & Where It Was Captured:

Captured in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. It was a quiet moment in the golden rush hour- the instant just before the sun sets in the evening, during the last days of Autumn.

Settings:

Ø  Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec

Ø  f/5.6

Ø  ISO:  400

I adjusted the focus to spotlight the three, broad leaves, blurring the rest into a pink vignette. The final picture didn't need much editing, just a little touch up. I rather not edit my pictures, the originals satisfy me, but this one deserved a quick touch up in Photoshop. I used the selective saturation to bring out the pinks and purple in the front leave. The droplets of water I sharpened using the brushes and increased their brightness, to the background I added vintage filter which softened and blended the dark blues and pinks.

 The Story:

                            Sometimes, the small things that tend to pass beyond our notice, end up as the most beautiful ones, it just takes a seeing eye, the right equipment and nature's aesthetic glory. In a corner of my home's garden grows this gentle foliage, I've seen it spread from a small stem to the magnificence it processes today, it had grown and evolved in front of me. This pink leaved member of the mint family can be called “Solenostemon Scutellaniodes”, or simply, “Redhead”. In the autumn it adds a dramatic tinge to the drying garden with its rich colors.

I was outside in the evening of a cloudy November when this plant caught my eye. I waited for the break in the clouds and the downpour of soft winter sunlight to capture the three prominent leaves. A slight adjustment of focus and the droplets were frozen in the capture as well.

This is autumn, staring at the observer who looks at this picture. It is the cheery blossom pinks, the fading greens. Autumn, the last remains of spring, the year's loveliest smile before embracing the December cold.