As a follow-up from my first post ‘An Old Favourite’, I decided to talk about this photo for my next blog post as, again, it is one of the first photos I took that I always come back to; it has stood the test of time and therefore remains one of my most beloved photos.
My previous photo of the apple required quite a bit of editing to achieve the desired lighting effect due to overexposure making it look washed-out. In contrast, this image happened to be taken in very good natural lighting. Though it is worth mentioning that the lighting in the top right corner of the image is most likely overexposed, taking away some definition from the flowers at the top. Even so, I believe it has worked well and still leaves enough clarity throughout the rest of the image.
In fact, it is the light that I believe makes this photo so successful in addition to being one of my favourites: I was very attracted to the lighting effect appearing as almost circular shapes in the bottom right corner of the image, which I later learned is called ‘Bokeh’. I personally think this is a great effect and adds something interesting to the photo. This is of course the reason for the photo’s title: ‘Bluebell Bokeh’.
My photos are generally quite simplistic in the way that they are shot; I am not one to mess around with my camera’s settings and I very rarely stray from the Full Auto setting on my DSLR. I am pretty sure that this photo was no different, in which case the bokeh effect I have achieved is entirely a ‘happy accident’.
In terms of colour, something in this image that may go undetected at first glance is the splotch of yellow near the top left corner of the background, which is likely another flower or plant. I think this extra pop of colour is a welcome addition which works well and sits nicely with the green in the background.
Composition-wise, I was very happy with the position of the flowers in the final
photo. Their placing in the middle of the photo leaves a pretty even amount of empty space to the left and right. The way that the stalk emerges from the bottom left of the photo and curves inward towards the middle allowing the flowers to move diagonally across the centre of the image is a great success; It leaves plenty of room in the bottom right of the image to display the beautiful bokeh effect.
The final element of the photo that really makes it a success for me is the cobwebs adorning the flowers. They are a very subtle addition to the image which again would require more than a brief viewing of the photo as a whole to be noticed. The delicate strands appear to catch the light very well, making them visible within the image and adding an extra something that really pulls the image together.
Thanks for reading,
H. x
Photo taken: 9/05/2015