Withering

I was really going back and forth about what to do with this image. It’s not all that different from other photos I have taken of magnolia flowers over the years, and I’m not entirely sure it demonstrates much of anything in the way of growth and progression as a photographer. On the other hand, I like the picture from a compositional standpoint–it’s got some interesting elements all on its own, despite its similarity to other photos. I guess you could also consider it a companion piece to last week’s shot of a magnolia flower in an earlier state of bloom, whereas this one is nearing the end of its time as a flower before turning into a seed pod. Either way, I think this image stands on its own quite well even though it does have a couple minor issues that I’m not sure pleased with, and as such I figure it’s worth featuring here on the blog.

If there’s one thing that separates this shot from almost all my other magnolia flower photos I have taken, it’s the colors. Rather than white petals, green leaves, or red seeds this image is saturated with oranges, browns, and other earth tones. It’s almost the floral embodiment of Genesis 3:19, though at the same time could be considered foreshadowing for 2 Corinthians 5:15. Or maybe it’s just a cool-looking closeup of a flower. Whatever works for you :) The first thing you notice is the dark brown curlicues, or at least that was my intention, and then as you look outward from the center you’ll see that it’s embedded in this bundle of flower petals that were white but are now dull brown and will soon fall away–literally. There’s something kind of comforting about this shot, like the flower petals are almost hugging the core but knowing that their grasp won’t last long. At least that’s the kind of thought that it evokes for me anyway, but it might do something entirely different for you.

I shot this with my now-standard combination of Nikon D750 and 105mm f/2.8 macro lens, and like last week’s image I used a pretty small aperture of f/22 in order to get the shot nice and sharp where I wanted it. I did take a few exposures at f/11 and even f/8, but the depth of field was just way too small and the image wasn’t really that interesting as a result. Kind of a less-is-more, if you know what I mean. Or maybe more is more, since the depth of field is greater? I dunno. Either way, this was a fun image to take and in a lot of ways a new take on a familiar subject but one that I was glad I could capture.