Taken @ one of the Wildcat Park Chert Glades in Joplin, MO. My wildflower book calls the subject Widow’s Cross Sedum with the background being Yellow Sedum. I squandered several days trying to get the image I wanted. Tell me what you think.
Wonderful color Bruce, the yellow and violet really work well together. As far as the comp goes, I think I might have tried to get a little tighter crop on the Widow's Cross sedum - there are just too many other things that lead me away from the subject, like the top center dark area. I also would have tried a vertical orientation, it just seems to be more appropriate for this subject. Thanks for sharing - I've got to get out to some of these glades soon...
Bruce, I agree with Bill on this one - there is a lot of distraction in the image - a lot competing with the subject. I do like the subject, though. 've always liked Widows Cross, and the carpet of yellow flowers is quite a bonus. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, I will try the vertical crop. On a related subject how do you reduce background clutter? I'm a big fan of the simple compositions but except for the occasional freak accident I can hardly ever achieve it. This picture is a good example, by the time I had enough depth of field to show the pink of the widow's cross there were all kinds of competition for it.
Hmmm. Some interesting possibilities if you shoot Canon and have one of the TS-E lenses. You could tilt the lens and get the top of the Widow's Cross in focus and leave the background out of focus. An extension tube might also have some interesting effects.
I also have seen alot of people using a special lens called a lensbaby that may accomplish what you've mentioned. I've not used one myself, but have seen some pretty neat shots. They're relatively cheap at around $100.00 You can check them out here http://www.lensbabies.com.
Posted by Tim Buchanan on June 7, 2006 at 10:32 PM
Hey - I have one of those Lens babies - I keep forgetting I have it. You can really do some unusual stuff with it. it's kind of cool!
Bruce, what were your shooting tech's? If we could know lens, aperture & shutter speed we might be able to make some more suggestions.
You have some nice bg color to work with here so is you would have used a long focal length lens open wide you might have been able to achieve what you were looking for in this shot. More than one way to skin a cat!
Bruce, maybe if you would have moved around to the left and placed the main subject infround of just yellow, then the dark places where there is no yellow would not distract.
Brent among other reasons my position was chosen so I would trample the fewest flowers. The 2 Sedum varieties seem to want different environmental niches and at the time this was the only patch I could find with both kinds. As luck would have it I just located a large patch with multiple photo angles and opportunities but it's past flowering time for the Widow's Cross... Oh Well, There's always next year.
"On a related subject how do you reduce background clutter?"
Bruce:
It's really easy. Shoot however you need to to get your depth, and then do one of two things, or a combo of them. First, simply dupe your background layer, apply a blur to it, add a layer mask, fill with black, then paint in the parts that you want sharp. You can work up any combination of sharp or out of focus for any part of the image that you want. CS2 now even has a lens blur instead of just plain gaussian blur.
And a second way to do it is to shoot one image stopped down all you want and then a second image wide open with the background blurred and then simply combine the two later, once again adding the layer mask and painting in or out what you do or don't want in or out of focus - this way looks really natural, and it is, you are just combining an out-of-focus background with an in-focus subject. Easy as pie once you do it a time or two...
Bruce, as you stated, I am glad that you took the time to be careful and not trample these fragile glade plants. Chert glades are extremely rare and only occur in a few locations in Newton and Barry Counties. I once did an aerial survey from eastern OK through two counties into MO where Grand Falls Chert outcrops. I mapped the locations from the air and checked them out on the ground. The best examples left are right there in Wildcat Park!
There is little soil developed on these 10- to 15-foot thick masses of solid chert and by late June, the plants are usually done flowering and wither under the drought conditions. The yellow sedum is Nutall's sedum, Sedum nuttallianum and is quite rare, found only on those uncommon chert outcrops in Newton and Barry counties in MO and with a limited range of MO, AR, OK and TX. The Widow's Cross, Sedum pulchellum is not so restricted and can be commonly found on chert, sandstone, and igneous outcrops.
Both are winter annuals that germinate in the fall and overwinter as basal rosettes sending up a flowering stalk in the spring.
Discussion
11 repliesThanks,
Bruce Lauderdale
You have some nice bg color to work with here so is you would have used a long focal length lens open wide you might have been able to achieve what you were looking for in this shot. More than one way to skin a cat!
b.
Bruce:
It's really easy. Shoot however you need to to get your depth, and then do one of two things, or a combo of them. First, simply dupe your background layer, apply a blur to it, add a layer mask, fill with black, then paint in the parts that you want sharp. You can work up any combination of sharp or out of focus for any part of the image that you want. CS2 now even has a lens blur instead of just plain gaussian blur.
And a second way to do it is to shoot one image stopped down all you want and then a second image wide open with the background blurred and then simply combine the two later, once again adding the layer mask and painting in or out what you do or don't want in or out of focus - this way looks really natural, and it is, you are just combining an out-of-focus background with an in-focus subject. Easy as pie once you do it a time or two...
There is little soil developed on these 10- to 15-foot thick masses of solid chert and by late June, the plants are usually done flowering and wither under the drought conditions. The yellow sedum is Nutall's sedum, Sedum nuttallianum and is quite rare, found only on those uncommon chert outcrops in Newton and Barry counties in MO and with a limited range of MO, AR, OK and TX. The Widow's Cross, Sedum pulchellum is not so restricted and can be commonly found on chert, sandstone, and igneous outcrops.
Both are winter annuals that germinate in the fall and overwinter as basal rosettes sending up a flowering stalk in the spring.
Thanks for posting!
Best, Don