Loyalty and Devotion

How I shot this: ss 1/60 f 4.8 ISO 2500 – natural light – Nikon D800, Nikkor 100mm f2.8

In the Victorian language of flowers, Alstroemeria mean devotion and loyalty.  My husband gave me a beautiful bouquet of them on our 20th anniversary in November.   The flowers kept their beauty for three weeks, when I finally had a chance to photograph them.   The funny thing is, they have never been my favorite…I am unsure why, and needless to say my husband was teased about brining home flowers that he knew were not my favorite.  His intention, however, was perfect.  The Day Lily is the flower for the 20th anniversary.  As he was not able to find Day Lilies he purchased another flower that is in the lily family.   Now that I know the meaning of the Alstroemeria, and because of the occasion that introduced me to the meaning, they will become a flower I appreciate and treasure.

And with that, I leave you with a quote that could not be more perfect to accompany this post.

“Through devotion, your family cares become more peaceful, mutual love between husband and wife becomes more sincere, the service we owe to the prince more faithful, and our work, no matter what it is, becomes more pleasant and agreeable.”

~ Saint Francis de Sales

Dazzled by the Light I

SS1/60 f 4.5 ISO 1000

“Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows, the light and dark which that thing provides.” ~ Junichiro Tanizaki
To see this image in black and white please visit Monochromia for my Thursday post.

The process for creating this photograph and most of my other flower photographs is a bit more complicated than using a white or black backdrop.  I have surprised people when telling them that no, it is not a white or black back drop, it is how I used the light that created the effect in my photograph.

To create a white back ground using only natural light, I am using back lighting or side lighting.  I meter on the subject, the flower, for proper exposure.  This creates a white or blown out effect in the back ground or side area.   If I metered on the light, my subject would be under exposed.  The angle of my camera determines the amount of haze or flare in my image.  If my lens is angled up toward the light more light is going to enter the lens and haze or flare will occur.  To avoid this effect, I simply angle my lens down so that light isn’t directly entering it.  This is a very simplified description of angle of incidence.

To create a black back ground using only natural light, I use front lighting.  The light is hitting my subject so that it is well lit.   When I meter on the subject for proper exposure, this makes everything behind the subject dark and creates a dark or black back ground.   In this scenario, if I let the camera determine exposure, or if I metered on the area behind my subject, my subject would be over exposed.

I hope you found this information of use, or at least interesting, for your photography journey.  Please let m know if you have any questions.

A Bit of Adoration

SS 1/60 f 5.6 ISO 500, Natural Diffused Light

I edited this image in Topaz Black and White Suite using adjustments in the classic black and white program and adding a diffusion edit to give the image a soft, dreamy, appearance of the feeling of adoration, which is one of the meanings of the Sunflower.

“You can’t look in the face of adoration and be cruel.” ~ Claudia Christian

Bashful

Peonies, in the Victorian Language of Flowers have several meanings.  Bashful being one of them.  To capture this delicate flower on a breezy morning just after a rain shower I used the following settings: SS 1/800 F 5.0 ISO 400.  As always, the shallow depth of field produced a magical and ethereal effect.