“One by one they were all becoming shades. Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.”
― James Joyce

This was a spur of the moment photo of three tulips from my garden, which graced my table last week. I watched as they cycled between open , during the day, and closed, by night. Each day the open cycle became more pronounced and after a while, the hardly closed at all.

Yesterday, I noticed that they opened wider than they had in the past and were looking a bit past their prime. I came up with the title for the image before I made it, seeing the blossoms as part their ‘best before’ date.

It was fun shooting the grouping from various angles and lighting setups and just as I snapped the last frame, the yellow tulip dropped two of its petals. That made me smile, having literally captured the very last moments of the show, which was best before.

Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
2.0 sec, f/36.0 ISO 100

High Resolution image on 500px

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