Yarrow

Gallery: FloraPosted August 21, 201153 views9 comments

(Achillea millefolium)

This plant is used to sooth burns, stop bleeding, and ease cold symptoms. It's a big favorite of mine but it's taken me nearly a month of daily attempts to come up with an image I liked. This is it. Comments and critiques welcome. Thanks for looking

Canon Rebel T1i
1/200sec f/9.0 55mm w/flash

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Pat Sampson on August 21, 2011 at 8:27 PM

I like this very much as posted Nancy, particularly the whites against the black bg. The diagonal works very well for me. I might crop to 4:5 from the top and bottom just to place more emphasis on the flowers but that's entirely subjective.

pat

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

Comment posted by scott lanz on August 21, 2011 at 9:02 PM

It's also supposed to deter deer, so I planted three varieties in my yard. The deer, of course, just eat around it, but the long lasting flowers made a nice consolation prize. I've tried to shoot it as a main subject, but never with even a modicum of success, so I mostly use it in the background. I like your capture of the isolated stem. Nice detail throughout, perfectly exposed, and it stands out nicely from the BG. I agree with Pat about cropping a little to make the flowers a little more prominent (and the BG less so).

Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments

Comment posted by Bruce King on August 21, 2011 at 9:57 PM

Nice one Nancy. I like the dark bg and the flash was a good choice I think. The whites are perfect IMO as well as great dof management.

Registered on January 14, 2010, 276 Posts, 2212 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Myers on August 21, 2011 at 10:01 PM

Really nice exposure. I also like the nice diagonal presentation of the yarrow. I think the others are on to something regarding cropping, particularly from the bottom until the brightest two bottom objects are out of the composition.

Registered on September 1, 2008, 85 Posts, 757 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on August 21, 2011 at 10:42 PM

Nancy: Really good vision and your whites are spot on. I also like your DOF choice and the subject/BG separation. I can go for the 4:5 crop idea but this does work very well for me as is. Nicely done.>=))>

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

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on August 21, 2011 at 10:56 PM

The flowers look really sharp and clean, and the whites against the dark background look so fresh. I like it as is but think the suggested crop would work also.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on August 22, 2011 at 8:17 PM

Nancy:
Your perseverance has really paid off. A nice image and the exposure is just spot on. Framing couldn't be better.

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

Comment posted by Morris McClung on August 23, 2011 at 7:28 PM

You beat me to it! I just shot some of this two days ago.

And yours is better.

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

Comment posted by Roger Kirchen on July 31, 2012 at 9:18 PM

Nancy, I really like the diagonal composition and the sharp, white flowerhead against the dark BG. A picture definitely worth investing a month of daily attempts. I found your picture by searching for "Yarrow" and I like to note that in addition to all the uses decribed here (soothe burns, stop bleeding, ease cold symptoms, deter deer), yarrow plants also attract Downy Woodpeckers. We have several Yarrow plants (way past the flower state) in our yard and the Downy WPs visit them as we might visit a buffet. Now that I see your picture, I kick myself for not having had the vision to photograph the flowerheads. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on March 6, 2011, 95 Posts, 847 Comments