"Watercolors"

"Watercolors"
© David A. Ziser

I thought I'd leave you with a little of the beauty we found at the Botanical Gardens in New York last year.  There wasn't much color this time of year - according to the guide, Spring is the best time to visit - but we did find some color in the Water Lily ponds.  Water Lilies are simply beautiful but the photographic challenge is being able to photograph them with an unobtrusive background.

That was the case here - lots of beautiful water lilies, but many times with a less than attractive background.  I managed to find one water lily that filled the bill - it was beautifully lit from my vantage point and the background was mostly working for the image.  I like how the green Lilly pad offers a nice contrast to the rich, vibrant color of the flower.

I composed the flower in the bottom right side of the frame which allows the eye to enter from the left side of the frame, travel across the textures of the pad and finally stopping on the full color brilliance of the water lily.  I think it makes a nice still life photograph.

I did tweak the image a bit in Lightroom and also made the trip to Photoshop to remove a few small distractions from the scene. Hope you like it.

Camera specs:  Canon 7D fitted with 18-200mm IS lens at 200mm, F8.0 @1/500 second, ISO 200. Enjoy! -David