Black and White and Red

My good friend Bea has a marvelous garden that she works very hard on and when ever I go visit her I have to take some photos in that garden.  On this particular afternoon it had just finished raining when we headed outside to look at the flowers and see if any pollinators were coming in for a drink.  This beautiful red hibiscus was in absolutely perfect condition and I loved the little pool of rain water at the base of the stigma.  After I had gotten a few shots and I went to process them I couldn’t decide if I should do it in color or black and white.  The brilliant red color of the flower was so pretty, but the black and white version really brought out the gorgeous textures of the petals.  So I finally settled on this touch of color image that gives us the best of both worlds.  It would look great hanging in an office or above a book shelf.