Love wins

This is one of my latest shots. I got the idea while looking for inspiration on the net and wanted to try my own shot.

Valentine is approaching and everything is starting to turn red and all romantic. Although I don't like that holiday, I thought it would be a good idea to get a shot with hearts and lots of love for the occasion. This is a gift to everyone :)

We all go through difficult times in our Life. It's all a cycle, ups and downs.
In these difficult moments, it's hard to keep the courage to continue and not just give up to the problems. I personally have found that the unique and best way to keep on fighting is simply to be full of Love.
It is such a simple word yet so powerful and full of meaning. Often misunderstood too: It has become kind of a taboo word. Love is not just "to love your partner", it is found everywhere, in everything. My Life's Quest is to seek pure Love and become one with it.

After running all around my house to find a deck of cards, I used this setup to give it a feel of "gambling". The cards were of course carefully chose, the coins and bill carefully placed. I used available lighting with no flash to shoot this with my 50mm macro lens.

I shot it at 1/8 sec, f/3.5 and ISO 100. I chose a small aperture to throw the background out of focus. The RAW file was then processed in Lightroom and PS to convert it into Mono and leave only the hearts in color. I chose to do this to emphasize and draw the viewer on the hearts and upside down numbers.
In case you did not notice (as a friend asked me), the cards were not randomly chosen. It is supposed to spell "LOVE". (no photoshopping required).

The title I gave to it is "Love wins", because no matter what, no matter how tough the problems, no matter what cards you have in your hand, it is Love that always wins.

Cheesy maybe, but so true :)

May every day be a valentine's day for all!

(This photo is dedicated to a good friend of mine, Serena.. Big hugs to you!).