22 May 13. Last week I shared an image of a climatis that enough of you said you liked that I thought I'd share another, only this time, instead of a mature blossom. I'm going with an aged one, so much so that all the petals have fallen off. Likely doesn't sound all that appealing but I've placed a few petals of another flower behind it, in very soft focus, to add a bit of color. And just to make sure that the background isn't distracting, I've use a very shallow depth of field. All told, you get something acceptably sharp in the center with everything else simply falling off, forcing you to look exactly where I want you to look. After your eyes move to the center, they will likely move up a bit, then around in a rather tight circle, and finally back to the middle. I'll wager you will have to force yourself to look at the bottom of the image. Now, if you like this image, you might enjoy the work of Kathleen Clemons, a flower photographer based out of Maine. Visit her page if you would like to see a lot more of this kind of image. You might get some good ideas just looking at her work; she is very talented! Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/80 sec @ f/ 5.6 with fill flash.

22 May 13. Last week I shared an image of a climatis that enough of you said you liked that I thought I'd share another, only this time, instead of a mature blossom. I'm going with an aged one, so much so that all the petals have fallen off. Likely doesn't sound all that appealing but I've placed a few petals of another flower behind it, in very soft focus, to add a bit of color. And just to make sure that the background isn't distracting, I've use a very shallow depth of field. All told, you get something acceptably sharp in the center with everything else simply falling off, forcing you to look exactly where I want you to look. After your eyes move to the center, they will likely move up a bit, then around in a rather tight circle, and finally back to the middle. I'll wager you will have to force yourself to look at the bottom of the image. Now, if you like this image, you might enjoy the work of Kathleen Clemons, a flower photographer based out of Maine. Visit her page if you would like to see a lot more of this kind of image. You might get some good ideas just looking at her work; she is very talented! Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/80 sec @ f/ 5.6 with fill flash.