kirstenricquier

Une file de pulsatilles

NIKON D5100

settings

Aperture f/5.6 ISO 100 Shutter 10/800

upload_date

Sep, 2014

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300

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+20

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Behind The Lens

Location

This picture is taken in Han-sur-Lesse, a village in Namur Province, Belgium. It's famous for the exceptional caves by the river Lesse and a wildlife park, but offers beautiful forests in spring either. The picture is taken in a nature reserve on a high, rocky and very steep hill towering above the road. These flowers stood between a wild tapestry of daffodils, anemones and violets on the edge of the rock on a quite dangerous place - certainly on a rainy day when the rocks get wet and slippery - but to me they were worth taking a risk.

Time

It was taken in the early afternoon. Normally that's not the best time of day for nature photography, but on a cloudy day it is, because then more light can get through the clouds.

Lighting

Most people like a sunny day, but that day the grey clouds formed the ideal weather. The colors were darker, more intense, because the clouds hindered the sun to fade them. The grey April weather actually fitted the grey hairs of the pasque flowers. The bad weather added a melancholy atmosphere and showed there's beauty in darkness.

Equipment

I used my Nikon D5100 and no special lens, no flash or tripod. I was but a teenager, so I didn't have a really professional equipment. But it's not always the equipment that makes the picture, but what a photographer does with what he has.

Inspiration

I went at first to the spot for the other flowers of spring, until I found all those pasque flowers on the rocky edge of the hill. I tried to photograph them in such a way that I could catch the melancholy atmosphere. I saw at once a group of flowers standing in a row. So I could make the first two flowers sharp and let the others fade away, turning in an S-curve towards the top of the frame.

Editing

I didn't found post-processing necessary, because the weather and nature gave me the good light and circumstances.

In my camera bag

Normally I have my Nikon D5100, a monopod or tripod, a wide-angle lens (for mountainous landscapes or architecture), a Nikon AF-S 200-500mm F5.6 ED VR telephoto-lens (for birds and mammals) and camouflage netting. This, of course, depends on the subject and the kind of photography (architecture or landscapes with wide-angle lens vs wildlife photography with telephoto-lens, night vs day etc.).

Feedback

First of all, know that a cloudy day can be as beautiful as a sunny one. When you photograph flowers in bad weather, it's better to frame only the flowers and the surrounding plants, but not the grey sky, unless the clouds have shapes adding to the atmosphere. A totally grey sky without shapes in it, is dull and is better not included in the picture. Make sure that your bag is water proof for in case it starts to rain. There also exist protection for a lens against rain. Check the weather forecast before you go. Secondly, a single flower is beautiful when there is an insect on it, if you focus on a specific detail, when it is framed by other flowers or as part of a larger landscape, but otherwise a single flower in a monotone background says nothing. It's more interesting to photograph a group and see a line in them. Lines are very important for your composition and the reception of your picture. They influence the feelings of the viewer. I liked the S-curve of this group: it turns gradually into the void, in a soft way that is more appropriate for a melancholy atmosphere. Like a purple plume the flowers disappear out of the picture into an unseen background. Make the first flowers sharp and let the others gradually fade away, not at once (then you would loose the effect). My third advice is about the colors. Purple is a deep, marked color that comes more out when singled out. With this I mean that it is better to not mix it with other marked colors, but with grey, white, black, brown or dark green or sunset orange (with that deep orange purple forms a good contrast).

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kirstenricquier

kirstenricquier

Une file de pulsatilles

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow kirstenricquier

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