The Last Poppy

Gallery: LandscapePosted June 15, 2012232 views6 comments

I am not expecting much in terms of comments on this photo as it is in some sense a commentary on its own.

Earlier this spring as I made my rounds in search of wild flowers and coming back quite disappointed I started to wonder what if we had pushed nature to far to the point that it no longer gave us wild flowers and the like.

In three days of searching, especially in areas where I had seen flowers stretching for miles in years past this was all I found. One single poppy plant...was it the last one? The only one?

I could have photographed this in better light, but I wanted to convey a sense of harshness and distress.

4x5, 75mm f/4.5, Fuji Provia 100F, f32, 1/30 sec

Large version included, but compression is taking its toll on both versions.

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on June 15, 2012 at 4:02 PM

Youssef,

This is a GREAT photograph! What it lacks in terms of aesthetic beauty and captured in hard, this is just a great find and tells a compelling story. Even without your commentary, this tells a story. And even with the hard, direct light, it's like the poppy plant is being spot lighted.

My own commentary - one could view this in many different ways. Harshness and distress, or.... perseverance.... ;-)

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on June 15, 2012 at 9:54 PM

Thanks for the commentary Lon and for putting a positive outlook to it. But literally it was like the only poppy plant I had seen in Antelope Valley this year. It was quite depressing.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 474 Posts, 5555 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on June 15, 2012 at 11:21 PM

I think you pulled out a great comp with what was here. The sky seems a bit distracting, but it does add context.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Jean Day on June 16, 2012 at 1:57 AM

It reminds me of a birds nest, but it is so California where you can find little spots of beauty in our desert environments. Love the bright dash of color in the rough.

Registered on April 10, 2011, 36 Posts, 306 Comments

Comment posted by Anil Rao on June 16, 2012 at 12:43 PM

Very nicely done. It takes a sensitive eye to see this composition within a larger scene.

I find the picture to be uplifting.

Registered on November 15, 2003, 234 Posts, 4923 Comments

Comment posted by Bret Edge on June 17, 2012 at 1:46 PM

It may not garner a crapload of comments but it's a gorgeous image that very nicely tells a story. I love this one, Youssef.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 711 Posts, 6363 Comments