luttymoreira
FollowViews
3016
Likes
Awards
Contest Finalist in The Pink Color Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Just Flowers Photo Contest
Staff Favorite
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
All Star
Magnificent Capture
Genius
Virtuoso
Top Ranks
Categories
terrysigns13
January 19, 2016
The soft lavender and pink tones really give this an antique quality.
Fine Work!
Fine Work!
lilysia
April 28, 2016
It was a beautiful shot to begin with. Then I saw the ladybug and the ant and it got even better.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken near Azrou, a small town about 100km from Fez, Morocco, on the way back from a excursion to the Ain Vitel waterfalls and the Cèdre Gouraud (or Aballou Akhatar) forest.Time
This was right after lunch, so I'd say it was taken around 1 in the afternoon. It was a very hot day and the rest by a pond was very welcome.Lighting
It was a sunny day with almost no clouds, but this was under some big trees, so I was in the shade, but there was light bouncing from all sides, since it was a pretty open place.Equipment
Canon 60D and a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8, which was the only lens I had on me at the time. I shot it at 75mm and f/5.6 to get a shallow depth of field, but still get a sharp image.Inspiration
Easy: nature. It's so easy to miss the small things happening around us, specially when we're surrounded by beautiful mountains, beaches, waterfalls and other big things. I started shooting the flowers, then I found a couple of ladybugs, and after a couple of minutes, I saw one of them "sharing" the same flower with an ant, and I knew I had found something special at that moment.Editing
Yes, I toned it to give it a more artistic feel, with purple-ish shadows and yellow-ish highlights. Also, vignetting and some selective sharpening, to emphasize the flower and the bugs.In my camera bag
At the moment, a Canon 60D, Sigma 15mm fisheye f/2.8, Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8, Canon 50mm f/1.8, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 and a Canon 430 EX flash.Feedback
You might want a macro lens, if possible. I didn't have one, so I had to pick an aperture that would give me shallow depth of field, but still have my point of interest sharp. My focal length was as long as I could get, 75mm, to compress the image and separate more the subject from the (busy) background. I was in shade, but there was plenty of light, so I didn't need a tripod (shot it at 1/320s, ISO 800). Also, I had some very out of focus elements on my foreground, and made sure to use the rule of thirds, together with a diagonal leading line. Since the scene was very busy, I had to use as many elements to lead the eyes to the subject as possible: depth of field, leading lines, rule of thirds, color and contrast, balance...