A loyal companion for many years
Camera: Canon 1100D, EF-S60mm f/2.8 Macro
For the first image I adjusted the contrast to enhance the effect with the dark background (GIMP 2) by clipping very low value pixel. I then lowered the upper slider to clip very high value pixel which are only affecting the reflection on the leaves, I accept overexposure there to spread the mid-intensity pixels (that actually show the plant) over more of the available range (0-255) :
for comparison (left: before, right: after)
Have an amazing day & thank you for making it to here!