This photo is kind of a continuation of some themes that have wound their way through my photos recently, and though that was not really my intent I do acknowledge that it might have crept in there subconsciously in one way or another. First, and most obvious, is that this is very clearly a coneflower and, as such, bears a striking similarity to the other coneflower photos I have taken and shared recently here on Weekly Fifty. Another is that the general composition, that of a single centered subject framed by lights on either side, is one I have been exploring recently as well. And finally, I think on some level, whether I’m aware of it or not, I’m still trying to atone for the subpar nature of this shot I shared not too long ago–the one that, despite kind of working on a technical level, just didn’t look right in the end despite all my fiddling with sliders in Lightroom.
I shot this, as I did with many others recently, while walking from my car to my building on the way to work just as the sun was coming up. The framing here was deliberate: I moved myself around, kind of kneel-walking around the pavement with my Nikon D750 held out in front of me with Live View enabled, until I had the composition just how I wanted it: flower in the middle bright spots of light on either side in the top corners. It also had the secondary effect of adding a touch of backlighting to the flower petals which was unexpected but quite cool nonetheless, and then the little extras like spider webs, bits of dust, and even the orange flower poking up in the lower-right corner add a fun sense of depth, texture, and dare I say it, serendipity to the shot.
The one thing I wasn’t quite sure of here was the exposure setting: specifically, what aperture to use in order to get a depth of field that was not too wide and not too narrow. I ended up on f/13 (1/250 second, ISO 2000, which was then corrected in Lightroom with Denoise) and you know what? I’m really happy with how that choice worked out. It really is in this fun sweet spot: sharp subject, blurry background, and a nice falloff from the front of the flower to the back. The stem is blurry too, but not overly so, and the background is blurry but, like the green stalk in the center, not too blurry.
The one thing I don’t really like here is the color. It’s just kind of…bland. Sure it has a nice sense of contrast, but the palette is basically green and white which isn’t all that interesting. Maybe what I should have done was try to use that orange flower in the foreground instead…but no worries. I do like this photo and I think it works fine in most of the ways that really matter to me, and it gives me a few things to consider the next time I’m strolling down the sidewalk, camera in hand, just as the sun is peeking over the horizon.
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