This past weekend, I found a really interesting patch of flowers on the side of the road.
The flower patch had a wide varitety of mostly blue flowers. However, there were white, pink and yellow flowers as well.
I happily snapped away for more than an hour. I had so much fun that I just might go back next weekend as well.
I think I am making progress on the flower images. They are not all beautiful, but they are getting consistently interesting. I'll keep working on it.
Sunday, I had an unexpected opportunity to meet with some photographers based out of the town just north of us. The plan was to go on a nature hike on a rural farm that has been returned to nature. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to talk shop with other photographers. Better yet was the fantastic home made ice cream that was served after we were all hot and tired.
I took advantage of the opportunity to continue with my desire to turn my flower images from simple snapshots to something more. To take them from pretty to beautiful. How am I progressing?
How is it possible that these buds.
Could possible turn into these blooms? Mother Nature shure knows what she is doing. She's kind of trick too… don't you think?
To me, taking pictures of flowers is like picking low hanging fruit. The flowers are already gorgeous & it seems like most flower pictures are no more than glorified snap shots. Then I see an image from a photographer that inspires me and reminds me that flower pictures can be art as well.
Here then, is my attempt to make art with a picture of a flower. I hope it doesn't look like a simple snaptshot.
Today I woke up early to venture into the morning & hopefully catch the sunrise. Unfortunately, we never really saw much of the sun today. Instead, we had dreary skies and rain. Late afternoon, I ventured out again to wander around the yard. That's when I spied the pink blossoms on one of our new dogwoods. Thought you might like to see them, so here I am sharing. Tell my kindergarten teacher that I still play well with others. Thank you.
Whenever I approach a photo subject, I try to see something new or iconic in the image. I often take several images from different angles and with different settings. I'm trying to go beyond the normal view of the object. I try to determine what caught my eye. Was it the light? Was it the shape or maybe the contrast in colors?
My approach to a scene would be a little different. Then, I would often look for the story that the scene tells. However, with objects, I am often focused on trying to catch your eye without telling a story. I just want you to see what I see. I want your eye to settle where I think it should. Often, through framing, focus, depth of field, and post processing, I can lead your eye around the image until it becomes riveted to a single spot in the picture. That is a real challenge, and is real power.
Of course, sometimes, I just see something pretty and want to take a picture of it. Really… no need to over think it.
This weekend, we realized that grape hyacinth spreads like a weed. We planted it in one spot and a year later, we find it popping up in the oddest spots around the yard. Not that we are really complaining, it does look fantastic and makes for some really interesting bokeh.
Who knew?
I really have no idea what kind of plant this is. I only know that I must have been channelling my inner Georgia O'Keefe when I created the image.
tim mcmurdo 