Sunflower

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Sunflower

Sunflower is my favourite picture from my sunflowers series. I’ve given enlargements of this photograph as a special gift on a number of occasions. By special, I mean that I’ve given prints to people who have really made a difference in my life - my gesture of thanks for acts of kindness and grace. I see Sunflower as a powerful statement of hope. Sunflowers are big and, when in bloom, their bright yellow petals are absolutely beautiful. This is a photograph of a single sunflower, but in the background there are many others. When I give prints away as gifts I also recognize that all of us enjoy acts of kindness from many good people in our lives.

If you’ve viewed a few of my photographs, you will have noticed that I like to keep things simple and that I tend to emphasize a dominant feature of my subjects. In this case, no surprise, I wanted to add some punch to the sunflower’s rich powerful yellow. Even though it was a bright summer day, I used a flash for Sunflower. I borrowed a top-end exposure meter from the Minolta company rep and used it to properly expose the flash and underexpose the background. The effect deepened the blue sky while making the sunflower explode with colour.

As a closing note, I’d like to keep Ukraine in our thoughts and prayers. I started my Sunflowers series with a photograph I called Sunflowers for Ukraine. It features three sunflowers standing together - a reminder that we need to stand in solidarity with our Ukrainian friends as they endure the senseless violence of war. Today I saw some tragic photographs of the violence and destruction in Mariupol. As you view Sunflowers II, keep the people of Mariupol in your thoughts and prayers.

Nikon FE2 w. Nikkor 35 f/1.4; Vivitar 285 Flash; Exposure Calculated by Minolta Autometer IVF

Anemone

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Anemone

Anemone was originally photographed in colour. I bypassed it several times as I looked through my collection, concluding, too quickly, that the colours were bland and the image didn’t “pop”. When I took a second look I realized that I was looking at an image that needed to be represented in black and white. The details in the centre of the flower and gentle folds in the petals really stand out (pop?) in black and white. I love the various textures in this photograph and the delicate beauty they represent.

I really love this photograph, especially the black and white version. It falls into the category of “photographs I like to look at” and is a strong candidate for printing and displaying somewhere in my home. I find the photograph itself compelling, but I also love the story that goes with it. Photography is about finding interesting shapes, patterns, and light. These essential elements can be found at home or in the backyard just as easily as they can be found in exotic locations around the world. Don’t get me wrong, I love visiting interesting places, but it’s also good to know that the discipline of photography can be practised anywhere.

Nikon D750 w. 105 f/2.8 Micro Nikkor.

Check out my Backyard Flowers gallery!

It’s Fuchsia!

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What can I say? It’s a flower. It’s fuchsia. It’s FANTASTIC!

I hope you agree that the the colour in this photograph is absolutely beautiful - even overpowering. It kind of washes-over the viewer until one’s eye moves to the detail in the centre of the flower. I think what makes this a powerful photograph is the competition between the in-your-face colour of the petals and the delicate details in the centre of the flower.

This is another one of my “wandering around in the backyard” photos. I shot it with my 105mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor - a very sharp lens that has built-in vibration reduction to allow for steady hand-held shots. It’s a really “fun” lens because it allows for close-ups with enough working distance to keep from casting shadows on the subject. Great photographs are everywhere, even in the backyard!

Nikon D750 w. 105 f/2.8 Micro Nikkor