Macro photography opens up another unseen world, where colors, shapes, and textures are overlooked by the human eye. The pink lily is loaded with color and detail. I used a small aperture to give the image an abstract, painterly feel. The bright pink petals open to reveal a yellow throat, freckled with darker speckles at the center, providing a strong point of interest. Cherish is an image that really shows us what a beautiful world we live in, no matter how big or how small.

I've found that if I allow nature to be my guide, I can open myself up to a whole new world of composition. The symmetry of a simple flower becomes larger than life when used as the focal point, and the image takes on an abstract quality. At the center, the stamens curve upward like a corkscrew reaching toward the sky, set against a sunrise breaking open behind them.