Desert Flower
May, 2016Views
3920
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Awards
Featured
Contest Finalist in Innocence Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 10
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 20 rankTop 20 rank week 2Top 20 rank week 1
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janicebutler_2259
June 27, 2016
Join the conversation. Add a comment or even better, a critique. Let's get better together!
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Platinum
Jdmccranie
August 07, 2018
Great, great image, and beautiful composition. Congratulations on your win!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo in Kingman, AZ.Time
I managed to shoot this photo right as the sun was dipping below the mountains. It was the perfect golden hour shoot, beautiful little girl, dainty yellow flowers, and beautiful warm light.Lighting
I love back lit images and love how the soft golden glow from the setting sun wraps around her. Golden hour is my very favorite hour.Equipment
I used my Canon 6D with my 70-200 zoomed all the way to 200 to create that bokeh that I love.Inspiration
This little girl is my niece and she is quite the inspiration. She was born with a rare condition called HemiMegalEncephaly which literally means Half(hemi)Big (megal) Brain(encephaly). It is a rare brain abnormality in which one half of the brain doesn't form correctly is overgrown...in her case the right half. Typically the prognosis for HME is very low and most kids have catostrophic epilepsy and global developmental delay. There is no cure and most kids end up undergoing a radical surgery called a hemispherectomy in which one half of the brain is removed in the hopes of ending seizure activity. Gracie in particular is doing very well and at 1 year old has not had any known seizures and developing at just a slightly lower pace. We celebrated her year of being seizure free by having a little photo session and of course she was nothing, but smiles. We like to call her amazing Grace!Editing
Yes, I do quite a bit of post processing. The original image had spots of missing flowers and didn't have that warm feel. I enjoy adding warm layers to my images to bring out the photo's full potential. I have lots of little tricks up my sleeve, but ultimately want to create an art piece worthy of being framed.In my camera bag
My favorite outdoor lens is my 70-200L 2.8, it is always in my bag, it is just a work horse and always produces quality images. I also carry my 85 1.2, but it isn't as reliable as my 70-200, but when I get an image right, it is UH-mazing! Of course I always have my Canon 6D, my expo disk, which I should use more often. A reflector, lip balm and deodorant, because outdoor photography in the desert can be hard work.Feedback
Getting down low is the trick to capture an image such as this. The flowers in real life were very sparse and by getting down low, I was able to get a lot more color. Shooting at golden hour is a must too. I shot right as the sun dipped behind the mountains. There was still a glow, but it wasn't harsh and so I didn't get blown out highlights which is very hard to avoid at times.
