A Spring Surprise
ISO 100; 200mm; f5.6; 1/100 sec
This past weekend we headed to our local town square for some fun, and I brought along my camera as I always do so that at least I’d get a few shots of something I could work with later that evening. I try to take a least a few photos per day of whatever just to further my skills…plus, you never know when a pleasant surprise awaits just around the next corner. As we were headed back to our car I decided to take a few shots of the flowers adorning the square. I didn’t expect the shots to be sharp since I didn’t have my tripod, but I hoped for the best as I configured the camera for multiple shots. I set the ISO at 100 (most always), aperture 2 settings above wide open, let the camera set the exposure and fired away. The glass was a AF-S Nikkor 55-200 1:4-5.6 zoom at 200mm to maximize the bokeh.
Needless to say I was stunned when I returned, opened my shot in CS-5, did some post processing (I always shoot in raw) and saw what I had. The flower was back-lit and the light penetrated the flower pedals creating a delicate translucent effect along with beautiful shadows. Moreover, the bokeh was a wondrous mix of colors that splashed across my screen creating a warm mix that screamed spring had arrived.
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