From Ordinariness to Loveliness

I drive past this street every time we leave the house... It looks rather ordinary doesn't it?

And yet, to my ever searching and wandering mind, I see something beautiful there everytime I drive past... Want to take a closer look?





Still don't see what I see? Well, let me describe to you what I see in that little clump of greenery. I see beautiful willow-y stems that can catch the light beautifully and bend in the breeze. I've been wanting to come out and photograph these weeds for a couple of weeks... and I know ideally for the perfect light, first thing in the morning would be magical, but realistically with the two kiddies to do the breakfast and morning thing with, that just isn't going to happen! But today after kindy dropoff, I had the opportunity to take some shots while Catherine was having a snooze in the car... (I also knew I had to take a photo soon, as someone is probably going to come along and cut them down soon!!!) So while Catherine slept, I grabbed my camera... And wouldn't you know, the sun went and hid behind the cloud just as I was getting out of the car! And for this photo to work I was going to need the right light... It doesn't look very spectacular here without the light does it? (taken at 45mm, ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/640)





And so I waited... just a little bit... because I knew that sun was going to peek out from behind those clouds... and when it did it looked lovely. I tried using the macro, but it just wasn't capturing what I wanted... I wanted to capture more clouds... and more of the greenery (this taken with the 100m macro, ISO 100, f/4.5, 1/1000).





So I switched back to my 24-70mm ... and got the photo I was imagining in my mind (this taken at 45mm, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/2000, shown sooc)





Straight out of the camera, it's a nice image, but with a little tweaking using Sheye Rosemeyer's latest action set - The Vintage Roadtrip Collection - the final image has me imagining peaceful country fields in the springtime...





So there you have it... a little insight into how my crazy photography brain works... I've tried to illustrate just how important lighting is when taking photographs and how composition is affected by your angles and your choice of lens... they can make or break your photo. I hope I've inspired you to find a piece of loveliness in your ordinary day...