Azalea
There are plenty of public gardens, plenty of cultivated botanical reserves one can visit here in Western North Carolina, though I find more joy in going out and looking for simple examples in the mountains. Seeking out a particular bloom for its color, for its shape, and often for the light you get through particular canopies. There’s something special about going on a journey, maybe with a specific goal, or in my case on this day… With nothing but a general idea of a few things I might like to see. It’s late to be looking for wildflower blooms in a lot of areas, but if you travel up to the right elevation, you can revisit spring all over again. I spotted this Azalea stuffed back into a mess of branches, and trees, barely visible except for the brilliant flowers pushing out from the bramble. I spent half an hour looking, shooting, and considering the scene. Slow, tedious, but very rewarding composition.
So, you notice some slightly distracting elements in this photo, and while I could have removed them, I have a stance of leaving no trace. I very much could have removed the twigs here, I could of pushed the flowers more forward to create more subject isolation. The problem I found however, most of these removable would have necessitated me damaging the environment around them to do it. So, I opted to leave it in, I contemplated removing it in post, but again, I decided to simply leave it in. Perhaps a mistake, but at least I know the photo, the colors, and the environment are real. Not bad for my first foray into shooting simple wildflowers, but I acknowledge, I can improve from here.
For post production work here, I spent a bit of time darkening the background and hiding the worst parts of the clutter. I adjusted my shadows up, brought some highlights down very slightly, and brought some contrast into the photo. Overall this is very close to my out of camera shot, and I for one am pleased with the knowledge that I didn’t have to spend a lot of time on this photo.
Until Next Time!
Aperture: f2.8
ISO: 320
SS: 1/1000th
Focal: 140mm
Fujinon 50-140mm
