Dandelion
Aug, 2015Views
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Awards
Staff Winter Selection 2015
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was take in the Western Cape, South Africa while I was on the Outeniqua hiking trail. I had just arrived at a hut where I was to stay the night and found the daffodil situated alongside the brick house.Time
This photo was taken at about 4 in the afternoon while the sun was still high up in the sky.Lighting
The lighting on this day was quite harsh as the sun was still relatively high, there were no sources of shade anywhere nearby either and so I decided to use what conditions I had. In the picture I tried to use the harsh background lighting to emphasize shapes that I could see on the daffodil. I placed the sun almost directly behind the daffodil so as to create silhouettes of its shape, making sure that I did not have too much sun behind the daffodil, this preventing light from flooding the subject of the photo, the daffodil.Equipment
I used nothing but my Coolpix L820Inspiration
I was tired after a full day of hiking over tough terrain and so, once I had dumped my bag in the hut, I went and lay down on the grass outside to relax in the sun and refreshingly cool breeze. After quite a while of sunbathing I looked to the left and saw the daffodil in the middle of the lawn. It occurred to me that the daffodil perfectly reflected my mood after lying on the lawn, oblivious to everything but the sun and the gentle breeze. I promptly went and fetched my camera and took this photo.Editing
The only processing I did was place more emphasis on the daffodil by reducing the exposure, this getting rid of some of the suns glare.In my camera bag
As most of my photography is done in the mountains, all I ever carry with me is my Coolpix L820, a small tripod and some spare batteries in order to keep my load light and easy to carry.Feedback
If you are wanting to capture something similar, the main thing is to not let the sun overwhelm the picture. You can lower your exposure to do this or not include the whole sun in the photo. If you do have the whole sun in the photo, a filler flash might help to keep some color on your subject
