LOOK AND YOU SHALL FIND

Just setting out to take shots and see what you can find is a fun thing to do but often people become frustrated as they can't find anything

interesting to shoot. It's my belief that if you just take the time to slow down and stay in the one spot for a few minutes, things will start to reveal

themselves to you.  Large or small, it doesn't matter, but by slowing down you are giving yourself time to absorb your surroundings and take notice

of the shadows and highlights, really see the shape and form of objects and discover those small things you may have just walked over a few

minutes ago.

This coastal scene was taken in the dunes and it took me a moment to work out what was wrong with the picture.  Because of the erosion and high

winds of late, the dry sand has been blown up the sand hills and has totally covered the actual plants so only the struggling flower heads have

emerged.  A unique site that had me fascinated as I searched around for more of this. When I widened my view and looked around I saw that I

was surrounded in the same thing. Two minutes before I had not seen this as I was busy looking at the view.

To highlight the flower, I decided that I should use a shallow depth of field and set my aperture at f3.5. As this was the main element of the

exposure ( controlling how much I have in focus) the time or shutter speed becomes the secondary measure and I can't recall what that one was.

Also I was shooting with a 16mm wide angle lens which has a larger focal area than a standard, telephoto or close up lens. In the above image I

got down so I was using my elbows in the sand as a tripod.  Then I almost lied down to get as close to 'under' the flower as I could.  This view point

empower's the subject giving it prominence, strength and importance. 

My equipment used was a Canon DSLR camera body, Canon 16 to 35mm wide angle zoom and a circular polarising filter. By looking at the

shadow, you will see i was shooting at midday in very bright sunlight.  The polarising filter helps to eliminate glare and helps 'true up' the colours.

In the below image I took a totally new view point and shot this image standing and looking straight down on top of my image.  I had to be to one

side so as not to get my shadow in the shot.  You can see that this perspective 'flattern's' the subject, making it hard to distinguish how far above

the sand the flowers are.

Both images are beautiful and it is up to your imagination to decide the best way to capture an image such as this. Happy shooting everyone.:)