Sunrise and Sunflowers

Gallery: LandscapePosted August 16, 2011238 views7 comments

Shot this yesterday morning. The early morning sun was causing the buttes to glow and was trying to do something interesting with it. If I would have waited for the light to get to the sunflowers the glow would have been gone. There is a bit of motion blur int he sunflowers. The wind was blowing and I would wait for it to slow a bit and then shoot a bust of images in hopes of getting one reasonably in focus.. This one was the best of the flowers. Does it work? Thanks for your comments and critiques.

Canon 30D
Sigma 17-70
Aperture Priority
Shutter 1/20
Aperture f22
ISO 400
17mm
-1 Exposure Comp.
Tripod
Cropped to60% of original for composition

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on August 16, 2011 at 7:30 PM

I don't think you have any noticeable motion blur, but the closest sunflower is probably slightly OOF.

There are always risky choices on high dynamic range with moving scenery. In this case, I am thinking you could have opened up somewhat by a step at least, although f/22 may well have been the appropriate choice.. Another choice might have been a soft grad ND filter for the bright butte faces. I think you did well though, given the light.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on August 16, 2011 at 8:57 PM

Beautiful morning light on the buttes. I'm on the fence about the flowers. I'm not really sure how much they add to the image. In a way, there are two subjects to this image, the buttes and the flowers. They are both very nice but IMO combining them weakens their impact. I think I'd prefer a composition of the buttes without the flowers or the flowers without the buttes. As is, I'm pulled in two directions and my eyes aren't comfortable settling on either subject.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on August 16, 2011 at 9:37 PM

Nice congruent colors between flowers and sunlit rocks. Wish there were more of them to populate the LRC.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Sabiston on August 16, 2011 at 11:07 PM

Unusual composition. It works for me, but then I like that sort of thing. The common yellow tones pull the whole thing together for me. Nicely done.

Registered on April 7, 2007, 134 Posts, 443 Comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on August 17, 2011 at 12:08 AM

Really like the light and how the yellows of the flowers connect the eye to the warm, sunlit background. Nicely done.

Registered on November 13, 2008, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments

Comment posted by Michael J Greene, on August 17, 2011 at 12:37 AM

The flowers look good Richard and the background is wonderful. The extra warm white balance makes the sky look a tad garish, but I do like the shot just the same.

Michael

Registered on June 18, 2009, 86 Posts, 2317 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on August 17, 2011 at 7:44 AM

Richard, I like this alot! For me the flowers move this landscape of the buttes to a higher level. The light you have is spectacular! The only thing I would like to see is a sky with a bit more drama, but you take what you can get and work with it and you have done very well with it. The slight blur of the flowers is not an issue for me. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments