Syringa (Lilac)

Gallery: FloraPosted April 7, 2011111 views10 comments

The story of lilac, according to Greek mythology, begins with a beautiful nymph named Syringa. Captivated by her beauty, Pan, the god of the forests and fields, chased Syringa through the forest. Frightened by Pan's affections, Syringa escaped him by turning herself into an aromatic bush - the flower we now refer to as lilac.

I had the option of shooting/composing the Lilac from further back with more of the leafy stem bottom & leaves. I went with this macro style to show the tiny flowers/buds in more detail..

I found the mixture of deeper and lighter lilac shades made a better image than including the stem and leaves. The lighter blooms lead me around the image in an elongated or cascading swirl from mid/lower right.

F/20, 1/4 sec, ISO 400, 1D M3, Sigma 150mm & natural light. Full frame.

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on April 7, 2011 at 10:28 AM

Howard
Nice story about this plant. I find this hard to comp but you had done well here with this vertical comp of buds and bloom. The black bg is great. Only suggestion is perhaps dim or completely darken the small cluster in the bg near the RLC.

Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on April 7, 2011 at 11:53 AM

Howard: Good story and even better image. This is a tough plant to compose but you did great. I also like the lighting a bunch. Well done.>=))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments

Comment posted by Fabio Giarrizzo on April 7, 2011 at 3:52 PM

Today we've had the same botanical tastes, Howard- Like very much the light and your composition choice- Thanks for sharing this, Fabio

Registered on December 3, 2010, 90 Posts, 1614 Comments

Comment posted by Pat Sampson on April 7, 2011 at 5:53 PM

Love the color palette against the dark bg. I'm not sure about the comp. I can't find a large shape that serves as a focal point for me. I guess I might actually consider cloning out the flowers in the lower right to balance the space out some. Not sure though. It's a good looking image exactly as posted.

pat

Registered on May 19, 2007, 953 Posts, 15989 Comments

Comment posted by Nathan Buck on April 8, 2011 at 1:02 AM

Very nice representation of a lilac Howard. I like the dark BG.

Nathan

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1101 Posts, 13589 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on April 8, 2011 at 10:56 PM

The light and the way you captured and processed it is the star of the show here imo. Wonderful portrait!

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by David W. Kelly on April 9, 2011 at 12:04 PM

Beautiful. The black BG really sets the stage for the lilacs.

Registered on October 7, 2005, 883 Posts, 6590 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on April 11, 2011 at 3:32 PM

Howard,
interesting story and beautiful vertical comp. Very delicate and fine image.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Bernie Kasper on April 12, 2011 at 12:15 AM

Lovely work Howard !!

Registered on June 5, 2005, 251 Posts, 3734 Comments

Comment posted by Bob&Charly Nelson on April 14, 2011 at 2:56 PM

Wonderfully captured and displayed Howard. The lighting and composition does it for me in this image. Superb.
Bob

Registered on October 27, 2005, 289 Posts, 4202 Comments