Bicycle with Flowers is an image I captured early in 2006 while on Nantucket for my birthday which coincided with the island’s Daffodil Festival. The height of the festival for me is the parade of vintage automobiles that are decked out with daffodils, streamers and whatever else tickles their owner’s fancies.

One of the local antique stores has (of course) an antique bicycle that they decorate with daffodils. It makes for an excellent photographic opportunity except for the harsh afternoon light and the throngs of people who always seem to be milling about on Main Street. I was able to capture it with people just out of the frame, but the light was another issue.

The resulting hard shadows and bright light ruined it for any serious artistic purposes, or so I thought. Recently, while I was reviewing all my Nantucket work for this website I stopped on the image and considered what I could do to salvage it. I needed to make the bicycle stand out from the background and decided on the solution you see below.