365 Project - Day 39

Recently, I have seen quite a lot of flower photography float across my Twitter feed. Seems odd with winter approaching, but I'm enjoying it. I am particularly inspired by Fine Art Photographer Juergen Roth's beautiful images and article "The Art of Flower Photography". Of course, since I'm on this path to improve how I "see", I felt compelled to expand the flower image into a broader composition. This will cause angst amongst the purest in flower photography, because it's not only about the flower, but also about the environment. I wanted to capture the flower within the context of a scene. Let me explain.

I chose the navy blue wall in our dining room as the backdrop. When I started to arrange the flowers, I noticed the faint light in the room cast a shadow of the flower and light coming in from the next room through French doors created an interesting effect along the wall behind the daisy. I wanted to capture both effects in the composition and chose to do so without a flash. I have more noise in the photograph than I would like, but I do like the end result.

Now, I would not have normally chosen a pink flower, but this was the best of the bunch my husband picked up for me while he was grocery shopping ;-) It is a nice flower and so, I thought I would share this story. The pink daisy reminded me of a brief meeting I had recently and is my tribute to a little girl who made me smile.

When I was in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, I went to the restroom in a casino and while I was washing my hands, a little girl approached me after she had watched me leaning on my crutches for a few minutes. She said, "I broke my arm when I was six years old." I asked her how and she told me about swinging on a swing set and falling off. She still had scars on her arm from the break. I shared my story, thanked her for sharing hers and showed her my bright blue cast. She then told me that her cast had been purple. "Purple and pink," she said, "are my favorite colors." When I told her that at her age, they were my favorite colors as well and that my bedroom even had walls painted pink with purple carpet, her eyes grew wide and her smile fantastic. It was a lovely conversation. I knew she wanted to make me feel better and I so appreciated her brightening my day.


Today's Photo: "Her Smile"

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." James 1:2-3

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning




EXIF: Nikon D7100
ISO 800
50mm
f1.8
1/30 (off camera speed light)