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Spirea Blossoms
These bloom once a year, and the clusters are small. This is a focus stacked image. The upper left on one was out of focus, the lower right on the other was ou...
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These bloom once a year, and the clusters are small. This is a focus stacked image. The upper left on one was out of focus, the lower right on the other was out of focus. Stacking them enabled the whole cluster to appear in focus.
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Apr, 2020Views
297
Likes
Awards
Summer 2020
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Superior Skill
Top Choice
All Star
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 2
Top 30 rank week 1
Top 30 rankTop 30 rank week 1
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
My wife planted these. They only bloom in the spring and the blossoms are at the ends of spindly stalks. Getting them to clump is just lucky.Time
It was probably in the late afternoon. I like to have a dark background sometimes and can get better detail in subjects at that time of day. The 35 mm F1.8 Nikon lens gives great bokeh, but I wanted the leaves suggested in the background. It couldn't have been night, because I usually shoot handheld with available light and post process darkness.Lighting
Available light is my favorite. I almost never use flash or other kinds of light help. If the light isn't there, I just don't see the opportunity to shoot.Equipment
My Nikon D3300 with a 35mm F1,8 lens allowed me to get close enough. As for flash or tripod, I'm laughing, because I just used a tripod for the first time in my life to take a series of photos of Comet Neowise. I loved the freedom it gave me using the camera to find the comet, but for these flowers a couple of disappointing images were focus stacked using ON1 software to create this reasonably in focus image. One was out of focus at one end of the cluster and the other at the other end of the cluster. Stacking the images and discarding the out of focus portions really made the cluster pop.Inspiration
I pass this plant every day in all kinds of conditions. This spring cluster just screamed "Take my picture!" I never give it a thought at other times. The blossoms are small and the spindly stalks do not contribute to composition, but this cluster did it for me.Editing
The ON1 post processing software is very powerful, and it has a long learning curve. I'm still learning stuff every day, and I credit that software for the success of this image. As I explained earlier, by focus stacking the images I could bring everything into focus, at least almost everything. ON1 is excellent for layering, masking, and adjusting all kinds of situations. It is almost as much fun as finding subjects to shoot.In my camera bag
The bag is always somewhere else. I have a tripod, but only have used it once in my whole life. That will probably change. I've used many cameras to take the images I post on Viewbug. I've got a Canon EOS , a NIkon D3300, and a Nikon L100 that Currently do what I need to do to capture images. Lenses in addition to the 35mm Nikon include a Tamron 24/70 mm, a Nikon 200mm, a Canon 300mm, but I rarely use the long telephoto lenses, opting for cropping the shorter lenses. I don't like carrying all that stuff around. Having never done the discipline of 50mm shooting, I just finished many weeks of shooting with the Nikon 35 mm fixed focus lens to discipline my composition technique. And from this award, I can see that it helped.Feedback
Advice, Ugh. I've spent a lifetime with photography. Enjoyed every minute of it. There are so many opportunities to create art. One must study, seek, think, research, learn, and anything else that can be brought to developing one's skills. Never stop learning. Never stop shooting, and never stop communicating. As a musician, I'm trained to hear everything, and as a photographer, I've trained myself to see everything. I may take up the culinary arts, but probably will leave that to my wife. Oh! Thanks for the opportunity. I enjoy writing and often don't get the chance. That is the same with all the arts. One must make one's chances.
