Early to Rise

The first sign of spring is the Daffodil, long before the buds on the trees begin to appear, long before the chill in the air lifts. You can be assured spring is coming soon when these yellow beauty’s rise up out of the ground to greet the sun. Deep in the valley I call home, flowers have slowly begun peaking up out of the soil, reaching out towards the light far above the dense trees. Perhaps a little earlier than expected, but still a welcome sight to lift your spirits after the long, dark, and cold winters.

I’ve been watching the Daffodils around my home slowly begin to creep up out of the soil, budding out, and while perhaps a little early, I was still eager to step outside and take a few snaps of them. Of course, I had to spend a little time setting the shot up, making sure the background buds didn’t intersect with the main flower I was focusing on, letting it shine all on its own.

Testing out my new flash, and diffuser was a bit of fun, a large silicone bulb over the flash head creating a nice soft light over the flower as I composed the image. I wanted to darken the background and only really showcase the subject. Because it was still bright out when I shot this, I just had to work through the steps. Fast enough shutter speed to overcome the breeze swaying the flower, slow enough to keep the background dim. Ensure that the background bulbs weren’t intersecting with the main flower, and try a few different flash powers to make sure the subject illuminated properly form the background. The edit, took a bit of time, singling out the flower, dropping the saturation in the background, then adjusting my colors while applying a soft vignette, job done.

Until Next Time!

Aperture: f2.8
ISO: 125
SS: 1/200th
Focal: 140mm

Fujinon 50-140mm