Photographing Flowers

"A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is, thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in it's entirety."

-Ansel Adams

I had a good week with the camera. I did ok with it last week in Golden Gate Park, but I kept letting myself get distracted with head noise. I am thinking about taking a refresher class in Qi Gong, to kind of refresh myself to the discipline. I haven't been remembering to use it for stress management. If I did, I would be doing better with my photos. A couple times this week I used it as a instrument of focus, but I really should get myself back on a schedule of practice. Truly, it is one of the simplest meditative practices I have tried, and usually puts me in a much calmer state for the several hours afterwards. Look into it. :)

I found some fun flowers to photograph this week. I found the green and yellow Dahlia on Thursday. I was photographing as many as I could that day, because all of them seemed to be newly opened and at their perfection. I almost over looked that particular dahlia, in favor of one behind it, but when I stopped to really take a look, it made me smile, because to me, it looks a lot like it was grinning at me. :) Silly what the imagination will do. LOL. But doesn't it look a little like it is smiling? ;)




The rose was actually from the previous week, when I was taking pictures in the Rose Garden. I hadn't finished editing all the photos from that time, until last night. I don't know... there is just a kind of gentle peace to it for me. Roses are so beautiful in their many stages, I am always in awe of them. :)

I saved the main photograph in the entry for last. It is the very first cosmos to bloom in my garden. Isn't she glorious? I was hoping that maybe a skipper might come by and land on her, but it wasn't meant to be. It didn't matter much that I couldn't capture a winged creature on her, I think she is beautiful, and so I set out to take her portrait. Lately, I have been looking for totally black backgrounds. It isn't easy to find one naturally, but in this case it was late in the day, and I just used the dark fence and the natural shadows to my advantage. There's more to photographing flowers, then just finding a beautiful flower.

So, that was my week with the camera. I am looking forward to next week, and some time meditating in the park. I am curious to see what a difference it will make with my photography. So tell me, do you have a ritual you employ before you go out to photograph a specific project? Do you have a set process? Share with me what you do to find your inner artist.

-OndineMonet
"Facing Autumn"
Berkeley, California
August 18, 2007
Late Afternoon