Spring!
The gardeners at the museum plant flowers in rotation thru the year. It’s spring. The first display after winter is always so cheery. It is entirely unexpected on a dreary day in early March. Color. I do believe that a burst of color cheers me every day and every time. Great!
Aim and fire. Composition is straightforward. Just get the exposure right. Position the flowers artfully… ha ha, I daresay the gardeners would object to my moving any of the flowers around.
…spring. As this is posted we are probably in full swing with spring. Hey! A rhyme!
I love this flower. It looks like it has a little tongue sticking out at you. I know the name of it. I search for the plant in the nursery every spring. It makes me smile all summer long.
In this instance a macro lens helps. The flowers are tiny. Every task has its best tool. For closeups… well, rest assured, you can get a shot without a special lens. I did it for a long time. But the purchase is justified in the end by the results and the ease with which the proper tool makes it so much better. Does it? Hey! One always tries to justify expense to my dear wife in the face of a lot of $$ going out the door. My previous macro lens was so old… how old?… it still focused manually. I would liken it to a hard line phone in your home. How quaint!
… you know, the stuff you steal a kiss from your beloved at Christmas. I have never seen it. We had some plastic stuff that masqueraded… But, no, it grows in trees. It is more obvious in the winter when the leaves of the tree are not obscuring our view. Colleen got this as I stopped by a busy roadside. Oh, the pressure! She did it. Nice job!
We all … shhhhhh… got a favorite… Feather is in my lap as I type… She chose me, long ago, and I remain hers! No one argues. There’s no jealousy. It’s a fact. I guess. Colleen giggles all the time about it. Before we met, I had never “had” a cat. …Kids grow up, they move away… A faithful cat is so “calming” in your lap in the early morning hours as I await my darling wife to awake to greet the new day. A hug from Feather is perfect until then.
Focus, composition, timing, lessons? Really? Either you get a shot, or not. When you do… so, to focus, get the eyes. After that, all follows. Ha ha, Feather? I recognize her by the white fur on her paw(s). Otherwise she is identical to Spice. But, I “belong” to Feather.
Which came first – climate change or the geographic move to a warmer clime? Since we came there has only been a single blizzard in which our car did not “go.” It’s not good to tempt Mother Nature… yet I am waiting. We really don’t see winter of old where the snow falls and the winter wonderland outside is so peaceful in shades of gray. Color is all around us. It ain’t Florida. But, still, we are rarely snow challenged. Good. I guess.
High contrast – that is to say very bright to very dark. Bright sunlight can take shadow and light to extreme. This is not flattering for faces. In other instances it is hardly noticed. And, other times the bright contrast is an added dimension to the picture. Keep it in mind, and, make your wife look good. She’ll thank you. You’re welcome!
This weekend is Fire and Ice, a display of ice sculptures in town, a festival to make folks stroll and tour the town. Ha ha. It’s due to rain and be about 50 degrees. Have fun.
Speaking of… when I started taking pictures of the flowers in my garden and before I was using a macro lens again… There is a world of detail inside flowers. Aha! Who knew? Yeah yeah, a whole lot of people and scientists know. I’m late to the party as usual. Or, I am newly bowled over by my discovery. Enthusiasm! Wonderful! Ain’t life grand?
Zoom. There is a limitation on how close up you can get with a regular camera. A macro lens will get you in very close. That would be work. My macro lens was very old and creaky. … till I got a new real one. Meanwhile, I was looking inside all the flowers in my garden. I had the sneaking guilt of looking up girls’ skirts. Ah! Nothing so crass. But suddenly I had new interest in flowers other than a riot of pattern. Anatomy! The inside of a flower had so much fascination.
You can get a lot of detail with patience and a point and shoot camera. And there is more to be had by far with a dedicated macro lens. I have evolved. With my trusty macro lens I cruise my garden about twice a day for images worthy to be captured. The same flowers over and over might be boring. However, flowers are changing constantly. And I keep seeking the perfect image. I am still seeking.
Flower pictures, I got a million of ‘em. Well, thousands, at least. Different? Standout?
I’m lazy. It’s way easier to take an image right outta the box (camera) vs manipulation (post processing). I am no fan of work. This is all about fun, eh?
So there are thousands of pictures you will never see. An archivist perhaps might take interest. No doubt no one will likely ever look. I don’t consider myself that interesting. No one else should.
But. It’s been a fun journey. I have enjoyed the challenge of photography. An image. The image. A good image. It’s just fun to get something that makes me smile.
I look for pattern. A line. I look at color. I look at the graphical lines. The light of day changes from bright sun to the glow of sunset. It all factors in. No. I will not sit around and wait. We accept midday sun and do not wait for the sunset. There is that “lazy” factor. No work! This is a hobby. Don’t overthink it!
The image catalog landed here. The color is intense. Spring! Tulips! Ok! Of course I never take just a single image. Any of them are worthy to pause and admire. I shot that?
Composition? None. Just shoot. Focus. Sure. Color? Great. The bright sun makes the color pop! It’s a photo that makes you stop and admire it. I shot that? Yeah, and I’m proud of it.
Later afternoon light comes earlier as daylight savings time fades. Suddenly it gets dark soon after 5PM. I hate it. Out with the cats on the deck for an afternoon stroll… there were a few last images in the fast receding summer garden. The light is now a rosy glow as contrasted to harsh midday sun. Great!
Focus – I coulda done better. it’s soft. There are details. Sure, something is always gonna be in focus. Composition – ok, Subject – what’s my point? I am drawn to the stamens more than the petals. But the real point was the late afternoon light giving that glow only seen around sunset. I have SAD. The light at this time of day makes me wistful.
(Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that comes and goes in a seasonal pattern. SAD is sometimes known as “winter depression” because the symptoms are usually more apparent and more severe during the winter.)
I love this window. It is roadside along US 1 driving north. I memorized the landmark just before this stop. And we stopped. Colleen shot. She got a good one. She did good. She’s a photographer and didn’t even know it. Meanwhile, I got the shot for my collection. Does it matter?… that she shot the picture. No! We are pretty much one. She got her experience shooting bridges as we drive. Otherwise, I would shoot the bridge and she wanted my hands on the steering wheel. Imagine that?!
PhotoCritical 