“Return of the Day Lilies”
“Be music always. Keep changing the keys, tones, pitch, and volume of each of the songs you create along your life’s journey and play on.”
― Suzy Kassem
Today marks just about a year since I started into my studio based floral photographs. What started in my mind, as I drove past ripe wheat fields, as a vision of photographing some of the wheat under controlled lighting, quickly changed gears when those images did not materialize as I had envisioned them.
At that time, the day lilies in our gardens were blooming and I took a few in to see how they would look. After fiddling with my exposure settings and using my trusty 70-200mm zoom lens, since I did not own a macro lense at the time, I got images that stunned me. I could not believe how the isolation against the black velvet backdrop made the flower ‘pop’ and fine details emerged so clearly.
There has been no turning back from this. Though I enjoy being in the outdoors and photographing the wild world around me, there is a satisfaction in these florals. They continue to stun me with their vibrancy and detail and I enjoy the process of composition. The lighting and settings have become second nature. It’s just a matter of having enough subject matter to photograph.
So, to mark this milestone in my photographic journey, I decided to grab a stem of day lily and bring it to the studio for a couple of quick shots, two to be precise. This is the first one. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mm
2.5 sec, f/32.0 ISO 100
High Resolution image on 500px
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Ed Lehming Photography 
Lovely, as always!
Thank you
I feel that I can reach out and touch this. Wonderful effect!
Thank you
You are welcome.
Beautiful light. It looks almost like a botanical painting. I’m curious, when you are out and about with your Tamron 90 mm macro, do you usually need a tripod to get enough DOF?
I’ve gotten better at handheld as I get familiar with the lens and it’s DOF at various apertures, though tripod images really are sharper and I can increase DOF above f/16 without sacrificing shutter speed or ISO.
I prefer hand held to tripod carrying.
I bought myself a nice light tripod bag, so I’m a bit less hesitant to carry it.
Keep snappin’ sweet pics for many more years… 🙂
Thanks Tom
Wow! Absolutely beautiful.
Thank you Irene
The quote suited these charming dancing flowers. I have seen them busily swaying in the wind. 🙂