“It looked like I had another chance at the twenty dollars.” – Philip Marlowe, The Little Sister
There’s never a bad time for Raymond Chandler now is there? When I went to see if another flower was blooming, I found that the hepatica still were and this line from my favorite Chandler came into my head.
I almost didn’t go. The light has been pretty lousy this week; especially in the afternoon. For the shot I want I need late afternoon sun. I was all set to go out yesterday afternoon, but the light quit at about 3:00. Bah. So today I decided to see what I could do in the morning, if the darn thing was in bloom yet. Then it started to sprinkle just as I got the car out of the garage. I dashed back in for a quick look at the radar. Just pop-ups and passers, nothing that would linger so out I went.
After checking the flower I want to shoot and seeing it wasn’t blooming, I decided to check out what else was doing and found myself on the hepatica hill again. Before I could get going another gentle rain shower started. I waited it out under a spreading hemlock and when it was over, I found these beauties –
I have a ‘how to shoot wildflowers’ ebook and it states one should never shoot wildflowers in direct sun. Really? And miss a shot like that one? Not on your life. I think working within absolutes is quite limiting and I’ve never been a stickler for the rules. There are always exceptions. It’s learning how to recognize those exceptions and figuring out how to turn them to advantages. I’m not an expert in all of them, but I think I know enough to be dangerous. : )
Anyone have any photography rules they like to break and have them work???
Great stuff lately Kris. My wildflower season thus far has been a bust. I just have not had the time to get out there 😦
Some great images here. Just a small comment… Control the brightness level in your background as it can be distracting from the main subject matter. The viewers eye is always attracted to bright areas in a image. Usually this can be done easily with your image editing program. However, I never know what camera someone is using or the image editing software they may have. Again, nice images!!
hi Rick. Are you talking about the highlight to the left in the second one? yeah, it bugs me, too. I was aware of it at the time, but just got flummoxed by it in the field with the contortions I was already in, the impending rain and well, just plain laziness. I messed with it slightly in LR to darken it somewhat, but there it is.
Actually, there is a little brightness in the background of both images. Solutions include: Try a different shooting angle, use a translucent reflector (Or, a white piece of paper or your hand held over the problem area to block out the sun light), and finally remove the brightness in image editing software.
Yep, that is the traditional way to do close ups of flowers, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a defect in these images. Certainly in the purple flower shot it could be minimized without detracting from the feel of the image, but I disagree about the other. Part of my attraction to those particular blossoms was their aspect to each other; one seemed turned away and the first (the one in focus) seemed to be crying in reaction. Anthropomorphism at its best. : )