A Glance at a Gerbera

Week 3 - Discussion Post (also on FB)



With this week’s assignment in mind, I decided to experiment with a bouquet of flowers that a friend brought last weekend. Since flowers are one of my absolute favorite subjects to snap, I enjoyed playing around with this particular bouquet. At first, I approached the subject in its entirety. I took pictures of the vase AND flowers from various angles, with inside and outside lighting, flash and no flash. The outside lightning was preferred. I then narrowed the field of focus so that sets of two or three flowers were included in the frame. Again, angles and lighting were a primary concern. Each time I shot a grouping of flowers, one served as the primary focal point, while the others, usually of contrasting colors or textures, filled in the background. Additionally, I tried to capture the center of the focal flower, focusing on the stamen / pistil, particularly if they were uniquely shaped or positioned. Still not captivated, I zoomed in further on a Gerbera daisy, which seemed to be the feature flower of the bouquet. At this point, I employed the help of some of my camera’s features including the close up button and the timer. I have found the timer especially helpful when photographing flowers (and other subjects) close up, as it helps eliminate any movement associated with the pressing the shutter-release button. With the timer, I managed to get a clear shot of the flower, which filled the entire frame. The center of the flower was slightly offset, which I wanted to accentuate in the editing phase. In an effort to further offset the center of the flower, I chose to crop the photo. This put the center in the bottom left hand corner of the photo frame. I am tempted to crop a bit more off the bottom of the photo, but I like the almost-square shape of the photo. Using iPhoto, I applied the black and white effect. I was surprised by how removing the color drew out the contrasting textures of the flower’s center and petals. The black and white effect also added a sense of depth / dimension that I did not sense when the photo was in full color. I like how the dark center of the flower ties in with the sporadic dark spaces near the edge of the photo (bottom left & top right). When in full color, the dark portions are actually different (potentially distracting) colors, but in black and white, there is a subtle sense of unity. It is this sense of unity I cherish as I think that this flower originated as a gift from a dear friend with whom I was able to reminisce over lunch.

The original image