While this spring fever still has me in its clutches, I learned something new today. Actually, I knew it already, but was reminded of it. Had it reinforced.  Now it’s cemented in the lockbox.

I go by the motto of “fill the frame”. Sometimes I can’t fill it up enough on account of the limitations of my lens. What became obvious in this morning’s photo shoot, is that moving in tight and around your subject may drastically alter the results of the composition. You know this intellectually. I can hear you saying, “No Duh, Rach.” Doing it as a discipline is entirely another matter. Two photos from my early morning outdoor photoshoot are provided below to illustrate my point.

The single blossom on the flowering plum tree, next to the un-pruned bush that was the subject of my Spring Fever! post [link here] was today’s fascinating item.  I crept in as close as my lens would focus. Composed, worked out my exposure settings, etc.  Then…WHOOOPS!  I slipped on gravel in the xeriscaping beneath me.  Just a minor jolt of my footing. Enough movement, however, that when I looked back at my subject, the background was TOTALLY different in color, density and texture.  It went from a red background with ample bokeh, to stereotype sky blue. The point is: once you think you got that shot in the bag, move around and see what plays of light, or background detail, or foreground detail or framing will have changed that shot and alter your image. Did you really see your subject the first time? Or are you seeing it now?  Here are the photos to illustrate my point.

Blossom with Bokeh
1/125sec; F/5.6; ISO-100; 135mm
Metering Mode: Center Weighted Average
20/28/2014 at 8:46AM

Blossom with Blue
1/320sec; F/5.6; ISO-100; 135mm
Metering Mode: Center Weighted Average
2/28/2014 at 8:47AM