I'm learning to fly, but I ain't got wings
A single flower in honor of Tom Petty, spotted on my visit to the NC Zoo yesterday. Edited in Lightroom and Topaz Glow plugin....
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A single flower in honor of Tom Petty, spotted on my visit to the NC Zoo yesterday. Edited in Lightroom and Topaz Glow plugin.
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Oct, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo of a flower while hunting big game at the NC Zoo, in Asheborro, NC. I find it a little funny that my favorite shot from that day is this flower image.Time
The zoo opens around 9 am and I normally get there right at opening and head to which ever exhibit has babies. On this day, I headed to the Gorilla exhibit, and then went over to the Chimpanzee exhibit. After a hour or so, I saw this flower in the shade, but with some direct sun, which I thought was interesting. I shot a bunch of photos and then moved on.Lighting
With the flower being shaded but also some full sun, it gave me a great sharpness to the edges and crisp shadows. The lighting is what drew me to the flower.Equipment
For this shot, I used the small mirror-less Canon M5, with the EF-M 55 - 200mm f/4.5 lens. No tripod or flash was used. I may have used an extension tube, but don't remember.Inspiration
I really enjoy photographing flowers and I wasn't feeling inspired while at the zoo, so I was looking for other items of interest. Then I spotted this flower. The lighting was the first thing to draw me in, but the color was also a contributing factor. As well as the overall shape and isolation.Editing
I did do some post processing, of course. I edit all of my images in Lightroom first to fix the normal issues, white balance, lens distortion, etc..After cropping and getting the image cleaned up, I worked on it in Topaz Glow, to give it a little more pizzazz. I think it worked!In my camera bag
My bag changes depending on what I have planned for the day or event. For the zoo, I normally bring my Canon 80D with a long lens, such as my 70-200mm f/2.8. I also tend to bring my Canon M5 and a few lenses, since it is so light, which is what I used for this shot. I'm finding more and more that travelling light is the way to go.Feedback
I think when capturing flowers, the lighting is the first thing to look at. Then find a flower that is near perfect (or not, depending) and isolated. In this case, I used the little bit of harsh sun to my advantage. If you are hand holding the camera, make sure the shutter is fast and there isn't any wind or movement of the flower. Check your image and adjust settings as needed. When I know I going to be photographing flowers, I bring a tripod and really like it when the sky is cloudy with no wind. Also, do some post processing of your images and play around in the different editors, you'll be surprised by the results.
