It’s so rare that I shoot nature photography. I never seem to be able to find something that I like enough, or is abstract enough, or has enough character to shoot. I find people so much more interesting to photograph. So much character. Human emotions are something interesting all by themselves and capturing that is so much fun. But I’m always looking for ways that I can branch out a little bit, and expand my photography. Now I don’t think I’m going to get into the business of selling nature photographs anytime soon, but nature photography has its own challenges. For me my main problem is deciding on a subject. A flower is a perfect example. It’s obvious what the subject is. My problem is finding that subject in an interesting setting. something that makes that subject stand out. I find myself taking pictures of dead flowers a lot more than living ones. Somehow a dead flower tells a story. I can’t always say that for living things.
I went out shooting this afternoon around my neighborhood in Berkeley on the west side of Denver. You gotta love the power hour for shooting almost anything. This is a classic example of shooting when the sun is just about to set and you get that wonderfully complimentary yellow light that just seems to sell everything that it shines down on. I found this yard with a ton of Iris in it and the sun was just hitting the very top of the blossoms. It looked amazing even just seeing it. I can’t believe I hesitated about shooting them. I really do need to get over my complex about shooting nature photography.
For this shot the post work was extremely minimal. Just a little bit of curves for contrast, a little bit of saturation to make the flower pop, and that’s about it.
Photography Stats :
| Exposure: | 1/1000 sec |
| Aperture: | f/4.0 |
| Focal Length: | 85 mm |
| ISO Speed: | 400 |
Again you can see I’ve gotten back to shooting my primes. I really wish I could shoot with them more often, but in the fast paced world of shooting clients I simply don’t have time to “zoom with my feet”. I love the bokeh that I get with my 85mm. It’s hard not to fall in love with a lens that performs like that. I think at this point if someone told me I had to be stuck on a desert island with one lens I would pick my 85mm. Although I guess with a 800mm maybe I could figure out if I was anywhere near land.
Here are some bonus shots. From the same session.
Hope ya like them.
-Dave
