Seeing 2012 (#32)

For your consideration: a macro view of a rather small yet quite potent representative of nature's ability to orchestrate effulgence via simplicity and singular essence.

Photographically, the best conditions for seeing flowers are those days with overcast skies. This past weekend I was gifted with an overnight stay at a Buddhist compound in the Pacific coastal mountains not far from my home; the morning brought with it a modest layer of fog high above, an atmosphere perfectly suited for the subject at hand.

I am repeatedly moved by the incredibly elegant and subtly diverse architecture resplendent in the Plant Kingdom. The barely discernible textures in the petals juxtaposed against the ragged, sharply defined edges at the core create a powerful example of nature showing off.

This canvass and derives considerable energy and and an unexpected sense of motion from both the cyclone-like center of the blossom as well the stems' vectors in the background. The poppy seems at once to be dropping into the scene even as it threatens to thrust towards the viewer, charging out of the image's plane.

Poppy Vortex, #6201-7D

© 2012 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: March 11, 2012; Canon 7D; f/16 @ 1/128 sec; —1/3 EV; ISO 640;
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

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