Fleeting Beauty
Sony A77II
Sony 70-400GII @ 210mm
ISO 400, 1/320 @ f8
We had a series of thunderstorms go through our area today and I had planned to spend the day goofing off indoors. During one of the lulls Chrissy went out the back door and came back saying I HAD to come out and see the irises. What a fantastic surprise. These flowers open in the morning and shrivel up by the late afternoon. The second pic is of the entire plant. It bloomed once a couple of weeks ago and put out 15-16 flowers and I thought it was done for the season and stopped paying attention to it. Today there were over 30 blooms! The first shot is of the biggest cluster of six flowers. I also only had about 15-20 minutes to shoot them before the skies darkened and the wind picked up from the next storm. Tomorrow they will just be a memory. Enjoy today. All comments welcome. >=))>
(If the background has been replaced, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
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Wonderful color and the background was perfect @Bill_Fach . I see this was in shade however I was wondering is you use a polarizer filter as well. I had tried this with flowers but not sure if it really helps them. Thanks for posting the wide field as well, it shows how well you setup the top photo.
That is some garden you must have Bill! My iris are still a couple of weeks from blooming, which is good because we had some sleet, hail, and thunderstorms today. Thank goodness your “assistant” alerted you to this photo op . These are beautiful flowers on their own and you’ve captured all their unique characteristics perfectly. I’m guessing, to get the green BG you positioned yourself on the side, parallel to the fence? Thanks for sharing.
Dean: I occasionally use a polarizer but very rarely in even light like this. Another consideration for me is that my trusty 200mm lens has just enough of a ding on the filter threads that I can’t attach a polarizer securely. I had an expensive B&W polarizer fall off once. Luckily it fell in the grass instead of on a hard surface but it was enough for me to not attempt it again. If I need a polarizer I either break out the 100mm macro or the 70-400. >=))>
Jim: I indeed set up pretty much parallel to the fence. There is a small strip of grass that served as the BG but I had to stand on a stool to get high enough for the right angle. I have a RRS TVC 34L tripod that will actually extend above my head without extending the center column. When I have the rig fully deployed and standing on a ladder my neighbors suspect I’m crazed. They would be correct.
A spectacular display - both near and far views, Bill. The slight tilt of the small bunch and the way all the petals overlap makes for a very attractive shot.
This is superb shot, Bill. So glad Chrissy suggested you going out to see it. I am enjoying the colors, and the shapes of those blooms. With them clustered together like that, I didn’t even realize that they were iris. I did great at working to get the nice green grass for a background as well. Great shot!
. These are beautiful flowers on their own and you’ve captured all their unique characteristics perfectly. I’m guessing, to get the green BG you positioned yourself on the side, parallel to the fence? Thanks for sharing.
