Dec. 31, 2021 was a very misty, wet day (nice is relative) and the fog that was supposed to clear actually got heavier as the day progressed. It’s not often I have a free day and fog, so I took a walk in the woods to see what images I could get in those conditions. As usual, it was the details I preferred. I found this small spindly plant with a few bright berries in an unusual color, and they were one of my two favorite detail scenes.
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Any. it’s definitely not a technically great shot, but I was attracted to the color, especially with everything being wet and shiny. I did have another image where the branch is angled more, but it had what I thought was a distracting bit of green at the top that I didn’t take time to remove so I used this one instead.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Sony A7C and Lensbaby Velvet 85. It’s a fully manual lens, so the aperture doesn’t record. I think this is not wide open. I would guess it’s around f/4 or so. Handheld, unfortunately. I didn’t grab my tripod that day. Single shot crouched down (and wobbly).
My main adjustments were to white balance. I initially shot auto and then tried cloudy (fully overcast day). In the end, I felt like daylight was the best compromise and more like I remembered. I did work on the berry color a bit as I remembered them being more purple than red. I’m not sure if I quite have it, but I think it’s close. Being such a flat day, this is maybe a bit punchy, so it was my compromise from reality and my mental interpretation of the scene, I guess.
Striking for sure! The berries just pop and the golden brown is really pleasing in combination. With shots like these - stems parallel - I like to give them a rotation to set them at an angle. I find it a bit more dynamic and interesting to look at. Do you have the room do it without losing too much or would it be a big crop? Either way would probably work.
Gorgeous!! The slight “flaws” with some berries out of the focal plane make it more artistic for me. I love the magentas and browns – a wonderful find!!
@Kris_Smith I have added a rotated image. I went as far as I could but was getting uncomfortable with the diminishing edge space. I also added my other image that I liked the angle better, but there was a distracting green bit at the top (growth on a stump). I desaturated that a bit in post before adding it here. The uncropped version has more breathing room. In hindsight, I probably could have cropped out the remaining green. Thoughts?
@Diane_Miller & @Mark_Seaver Thanks for your comments. I’m glad you enjoyed the colors. The berries definitely broke up the brown/copper and yellow theme nature had going that day.
The more dramatic angle is nice, but the edges are getting crowded. If you’re into that much manipulation, the canvas could probably be expanded with content-aware fill. But the original is so stunning that it holds its own very nicely.
I wonder if this is some sort of honeysuckle (Lonicera)?
@Diane_Miller Thanks for the additional comments. I think I prefer my shot that was originally taken at an angle, but yes it’s probably fairly simple to add the kind of background in the image. I’ve not done anything like that as of yet.
I’m not very familiar with plants, but it’s in a local (Iowa) nature preserve so possibly something native to the area - or transplanted by a bird or animal.
