Tulips in their last moments are absolutely stunning. Delicate, transparent petals curl this way and that, clinging to pale twisted stems that can no longer hold them upright.
As I was making dinner on Sunday, I looked up at the bouquet I’d had for over a week. A few petals were dropping silently onto the counter in front of me. A bit of yellow pollen filtered down and sparkled in the sunlight that was streaming in from the west windows. It’s funny, until that moment I hadn’t had any urge to take photos of them. I’d simply enjoyed their frilly orange selves standing straight and tall in a glass container.
But suddenly, I was more than ready to trade a vegetable peeler in exchange for florist scissors. I walked into the pantry, pulled out a rustic piece of black painted metal and set it on the floor. I gently snipped the blooms and ever so carefully laid them down.
I was amazed at the light coming into the pantry and how it was making the petals glow. Here are two more edits in LR.

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Linking up to Texture Tuesday at Kim Klassen dot com
I hope you’ll join us tomorrow for “app” happy wednesday! Come and link up an image edited with apps of any kind – there really are no rules!
These are magical, Barb! Nicely done!
I think tulips are beautiful at all stages and your gorgeous photos prove that! Love your edits.
beauty in the decay – its so lovely…and I laugh when I read you stopped making dinner to shoot…I’ve been prone to do that too…good thing we run on a loose schedule here!
very, very cool.
Beautiful light, Barb. I’m drawn to it as well as the black painted metal background. Well done!
These are all beautiful and your edits enhance the settings so nicely. I’m chuckling at myself. When I went downstairs to breakfast the other morning, I found that the tulips on the table had shed their petals overnight. As I tossed them, I thought, I really should take pictures of these. But my hunger was a much stronger urge.
Barb, I love the way you cut these apart and the arrangement. So artistic…..
Hi Barb,
Withering tulips are just the most beautiful thing – I love what you have created here! The black background gives a great contrast – and the light is falling in a beautiful way to the petals … The brush strokes in the background are giving life ~ so pretty!
Barb, these are gorgeous … what a lovely dark and moody feel !
Great texture on your painted background … stunning !
Have a nice week,
Sylvia
amazing… truly beautiful Barb…..
I love your edits and also love how we ( photographers ) see beauty in everything :)
The color of the tulips and the background are royalty! The wabi-sabi petals and stamens are pure art! These are stunning, and beautiful for wall prints. So happy you stopped peeling and took photos. :-)
These really make me smile! The colors, the ‘random’ placement, all elements are just, well, can something be exciting and moody at the same time? Guess so!
Drop dead gorgeous photos! It’s really fun to take chances . . . and put off the cooking and dinner preparation to seize the moment. Totally worth it!
Loving your images so much! Great editing as well. I’m with you, my favorite kind of tulips are those that are dropping their petals, all in various stages of shrivel! Really great.
Beautiful! Some of the best photographs come out of impromptu photo shoots. :) I love how the tulips glow in your top photo. The painted metal makes a wonderful backdrop.
Such a wonderful post, So many gorgeous photo. And yes I think dinner can wait. LOL..
Hugs, Linda
Stunning! What more can I say? They are absolutely stunning! So glad you tossed the veggie peeler!!
Gorgeous! I love the dark background and the beautiful light from the side. The presets add such drama and texture to the images.
Your images are spectacular. Such a talent. Visiting from Kim Klassen’s Texture Tuesday.
Really beautiful arrangement with these nearly spent flower heads! Nice job.
Absolutely beautiful. Fantastic glowing colors.
Your pictures are fantastic Barb! I love the diagonal setting of your curling tulips on a dark background… I love still mote the last of the series with sort of a regular arrangement of the flowers… yes the petals glow beautifully against the dark layer… I was thinking that this lovely design would make a perfect textile design for a heavy velvet upholstery fabric…