Flame Poppy
Beautiful, vibrant poppy from a local public garden - blazing and in full bloom!
Beautiful, vibrant poppy from a local public garden - blazing and in full bloom!
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Aug, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in a garden about a block from my home. It is modeled after an English formal garden, with an amazing variety of flowers that is curated on a precise schedule from the first signs of spring till autumn arrives. The poppies - this is a flame poppy - appear in the garden in the early part of the summer.Time
I shot this flower on a May afternoon (5/27) in 2013, at 4:11 pm. The sun was very bright and hot, which made the flower almost glow, but also made it difficult to capture the colour with the proper amount of light, shade and contrast so the petals were well-defined. I was fascinated by the lushness of the flower's centre, and worked to get close enough that its delicate detail showed up well.Lighting
I used nothing but natural light, which was so abundant it took some maneuvering to find enough shade that the vivid colour of the flower didn't wash out all detail.Equipment
I used my Fujifilm FInePix S camera, 1/280 f/4.6 12.2mm, handheld, no flash.Inspiration
First, I love flowers, and floral photography is a bit of an obsession with me. Poppies are so bold and dramatic, I think of photos of them as portraits more than a mere nature shot. Each bloom presents a different aspect of its botanical family waiting to be seen and discovered. Poppies are one of the flowers I wait for, every spring, looking for unique position, colour, and state of bloom. This one was a flame red, and I could not resist its extravagant beauty. I've also found pink and yellow ones in the public gardens of my town.Editing
I am a digital artist as well as a "straight" photographer, so I often do post-processing! I took this shot into an app I use often on my iPhone - Mextures. The blending and contrast of different filters and light/light leaks in that app provide a dramatic palette that made this special flower even more striking. The colours are not natural to the flower, of course, but they seemed to fit and enhance this floral portrait perfectly, and give it a bit of a surreal look.In my camera bag
I don't use (or have) a lot of complex equipment yet, but I always carry my Fuji with me, and my iPhone 6S (which is a more amazing camera than many realise!), along with my macro lens and sometimes my tripod. Usually, though, I leave the tripod at home and just try to get as close up as possible, especially when taking flower portraits.Feedback
If you are into floral photography, look around your town or area for formal gardens, public gardens, places where you have "captive" subjects that you can rely on. The garden where I took this photo has a definite schedule, so I know when the poppies will be there, and the peonies, the roses, the tulips, and the sunflowers. In a garden, you can go at various times of the day, set up your tripod, and take your time, getting shots from every possible angle and light. If you love post-processing, just keep experimenting with anything and everything that comes to mind, letting your imagination go wild! I never know what I'll come up with - it's a fascinating process of discovery, every time.
