Peony
As I mentioned in the last post I have a multitude of plants growing in my backyard. The last post was all about the Iris so this one is all about the Peony. I really like this plant because the sprouts start out looking like giant asparagus shoots, and then they open up, develop richly colored green leaves and then form tiny little flower buds. These buds have a waxy covering on them and right before they are about to bloom you can witness a bunch of small ants crawling on the surface of the buds. Being that we view ants as pests, may wish to get rid of these ants from the peony blossoms, but they provide a very crucial role in the survival of the peony flowers. They consume the waxy covering from the blossoms which enable the flowers to open up and display the beauty that has been hidden. So without further ado, here are two of my favorite photos of the peony bushes and flowers that I took last Friday.
Nikon D50 | 50mm | f/3.5 | ISO 200 | 1/320 exp.
Nikon D50 | 50mm | f/3.5 | ISO 200 | 1/500 exp.
i love the first photo, of the unopened peony. i like that it’s not a typical “flower” shot. i like the little hints of red.
question: do you edit your photos at all before you post? you always get such rich colors in your photos. i know we have different lenses, but i just wonder what i could do differently.
mendy
06/02/2009 at 7:57 pm
I don’t typically do any editing of my shots before I post them. I like editing photos, but I also like the challenge of being able to frame, light, and capture a well exposed photograph without having to doctor it up.
Generally I shoot in manual, with the lens autofocusing. I like opening the aperture up a lot, which is why I shoot so many shots at 3.5 or faster (usually at 1.8). Shooting in manual lets me adjust everything I want to, and I generally use the meter in the viewfinder and adjust shutter speed so that according to the camera I’m neither under nor over-exposing the photo. Apparently its doing good things for me. I should also note that some of the warmth of color can be attributed to a filter I commonly use. It is a Hoya 81A Warming Filter. It is a very subtle warmth, but it can make a lot of difference when the sun is beating down on your subject, washing it out.
I wish I had something more technical for an explanation, but I think I’ve about covered it.
kdstern
06/02/2009 at 9:45 pm