Taken back in mid-April at Big Walnut Preserve, a Nature Conservancy property in west-central Indiana. I want to acknowledge Christopher Jordan who filled me in on Big Walnut a couple of years ago.
Hi Kerry
Interesting shot. The foreground flowers caught my eye and the log lead me toward the hillside and the background ones. The colors compliment each other nicely. Did you happen to get any shots with a landscape perspective? Thanks.
Mike
I have tried taking wide angle bluebell shots and they always disappoint when I look at them on the monitor. For one reason or another, they seem to shrink in the hands of a wide angle lens. I'm quite sure this scene was much more impressive in 'real life' than it appears here, as the green leaves seem to overwhelm the blue flowers. I gave up on wide shots and focused on intimate close-ups, which seem to work much better with this flower.
Like it. We don't have many bluebells in my area. I hope to find a group like this some day. My trouble is I am usually farming when the flowers are blooming. Looks like a nice place to shoot on a foggy day.
Did you happen to get any shots with a landscape perspective?
Michael, no, I didn't. I did, as a matter of due diligence, look at the scene through the viewfinder with the camera in horizontal position, but I didn't like what I saw (and I wasn't surprised). For one thing, the depth of the shot as defined by the fallen log lost most of its impact with the landscape perspective. No surprise, as I said, since leading lines inevitably lose a lot of their depth impact in a 3:2 horizontally-oriented frame. Additionally, there were elements of the scene that I wanted to exclude that were virtually impossible to omit by rotating the frame to horizontal--some fallen branches to the left and elements of a trail to the right.
I have tried taking wide angle bluebell shots and they always disappoint when I look at them on the monitor. For one reason or another, they seem to shrink in the hands of a wide angle lens. I'm quite sure this scene was much more impressive in 'real life' than it appears here, as the green leaves seem to overwhelm the blue flowers. I gave up on wide shots and focused on intimate close-ups, which seem to work much better with this flower.
It's a matter of opinion of course, Brian, but I respectfully disagree with the bluebells/wide angle characterization put forth in your note. I've been inspired over the years by the work of a number of photographers utilizing this very combination of subject matter (bluebells) and technique (wide angle), Willard Clay most particularly. And, FWIW, one of the things that make bluebell "flowerscapes" so appealing to me is the subtle complement of the green-blue color scheme.
But as I said at the outset, it's certainly a matter of opinion.
I've not seen this many Bluebells in one spot either, The background seems a little soft. Would have been fun to try taking a number of shots at different focal points and merging them into a single photo.
Discussion
8 repliesD700, 24-70 @ 24mm, polarizer
Interesting shot. The foreground flowers caught my eye and the log lead me toward the hillside and the background ones. The colors compliment each other nicely. Did you happen to get any shots with a landscape perspective? Thanks.
Mike
Michael, no, I didn't. I did, as a matter of due diligence, look at the scene through the viewfinder with the camera in horizontal position, but I didn't like what I saw (and I wasn't surprised). For one thing, the depth of the shot as defined by the fallen log lost most of its impact with the landscape perspective. No surprise, as I said, since leading lines inevitably lose a lot of their depth impact in a 3:2 horizontally-oriented frame. Additionally, there were elements of the scene that I wanted to exclude that were virtually impossible to omit by rotating the frame to horizontal--some fallen branches to the left and elements of a trail to the right.
It's a matter of opinion of course, Brian, but I respectfully disagree with the bluebells/wide angle characterization put forth in your note. I've been inspired over the years by the work of a number of photographers utilizing this very combination of subject matter (bluebells) and technique (wide angle), Willard Clay most particularly. And, FWIW, one of the things that make bluebell "flowerscapes" so appealing to me is the subtle complement of the green-blue color scheme.
But as I said at the outset, it's certainly a matter of opinion.
I agree with Brian, my wide angle shots of bluebells never look near as good after I get home as they do in the field!
CJ