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Image Description
I visited a local botanical garden on a day that was raining on and off hoping to get some shots of the flowers covered in rain drops. This was one of my favorites from that day.
Technical Details
Canon R5, Canon 100-500 lens, 1/2000, f6.3, iso 3200. Processed in ACR and PS.
Larry, the colors are striking, with the cool blue and magenta tones set off by the yellow and whites in the center. The water drops fit well. I wonder about a tiny bit more at the bottom, to completely show off the center portion, but this does look great as presented.
I have tried this a couple of times, but it seems with a bit more time, better results can be achieved. I find you have chosen the exact right moment to optimize the complementary colours. The DOF shows everything I want to see, including the slightly blurred water drops. Really nice work.
Fantastic detail, Larry. The center really pops and the colors are beautiful. I also have the R5 and usually have the 100-500 lens on, as I tend to do mainly bird photography, but enjoy shooting flowers when I come on them, but my results are not as nice as this. Were you using a tripod? focus stacking?
Beautiful colors, and I love the design of that “crown”. I agree with Mark that a bit of purple showing along the bottom might be good, but it’s great to see those drops. especially the large ones in focus leading down to the center.
Hi Allen. I appreciate your comments. I have my 100-500 on my R5 more than any other lens and I find it performs well regardless of what I’m photographing. I made this single image handheld. No focus stacking and no tripod. The combined IS on the lens and body allows me to shoot without a tripod most of the time.
Thanks Mike. I was fortunate to see so many rain drops on the flower. Next time I’ll heed your advice and adjust the composition to include more of the flower.
There is something almost otherworldly about this image. The first impression is one of being shrunk down to a scale where a single flower becomes a vast landscape, and the deeper one looks the more it stops feeling like a garden and starts feeling like a small alien planet. That patterned central dome, with its lattice of pale and indigo cells crowned by tiny golden stars, has the strange majesty of something the camera was not strictly meant to see.
The mood is rich and slightly drunk on its own color. That deep magenta sings before the eye has even decided whether to look, and the scattered raindrops add a coolness and a freshness, as though we had arrived at exactly the right moment, just after the weather had finished its work and walked away.
What I love most is the tension between the soft and the geometric. The petals radiate outward in fluid, slightly languid strokes, while the central dome is all structure and pattern, almost crystalline. The eye keeps bouncing between the two, soothed by the petals and then pulled back into the mathematical wonder at the center.
A really lovely close encounter with something we usually walk right past. Thank you for slowing down enough to bring it back to us.
The colors are striking! I agree that the crop feels a bit tight below the crown, although cropping partway into the crown can also make for an interesting and intimate composition.
Hi Larry, I havent seen this closeup of a flower before and thanks for that. Water droplets add more meaning to the image and the disc florets are indeed colorful.
Thanks so much for your insightful analysis Sebastian. I do try to slow down and look for small scenes and details in nature that others walk by without noticing. This particular flower was so colorful it really caught my eye and I couldn’t help but photograph it. I’m glad you like it.
Hi Santhru, I went to the gardens after the rain in hopes of finding flowers with rain drops. I think the close up is a more interesting view than what most people see as they stroll through nature. I’m glad you like it. Thank you.
