Sing

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Colour is all around me today. And while I haven’t got a specific image in mind, I feel I will capture something of immense beauty. I love gardening, and I love photography, so I am in my element in more ways than one. This garden, well, the greatest of gardeners would be proud of it! I am visiting my great aunt’s garden today, which has won many competitions over past decades. All the showy flowers, manicured shrubs, and trees are established, picturesque, and grand. The garden edges are curvy, leading the eye across immaculate lawns. I am relaxed as ever right now, a garden with curved edging has a quietening effect on my mind.

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My mother’s aunty, aged eighty-nine, still cares for her gardens each day – in a very modest fashion. Despite the abundant choice of flowers available, I choose to photograph a flower that is almost unnoticeable. This flower is tiny and delicate. I use my macro lens to magnify its beauty and reveal its intricate detail. As I set up the camera and tripod in a position near to the ground, I am excited about what I am going to actually see. The lens needs to be directly in front of the flower, on the subject’s level to achieve the close perspective I want, and for sharp focus. Getting down low to the ground, coupled with the best angle, may ensure the whole image is evenly exposed. Screaming midday heat is usually the most unfavourable time to shoot, but if one finds the right angle, the right subject, and uses a polarising filter, the results can be sensational, particularly when it comes to flower photography. Now that I have a perfect view of the subject, I am entitling this image none other than “Sing”, as I think the highest bud looks as if it’s chirping a happy tune. I am glad I was able to notice this one -Another of life’s simple miracles.

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Michelle Dorothy Riksman - 2012

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