Leftovers!

After spending some time looking at my 2017 images, I concluded that it wasn't my best photography year! I discovered:

• I actually photographed much less than in previous years. 
  • I only captured 8,000 images.
  • Most years (going back to 2012) I captured 16,000 images.
  • And, during that period my highest capture rate was 2012 and 2014 ... 30,000+ images/year.
• The mix of subjects changed a lot, as well.
  • I didn't do any travel so no far away landscapes or exotic people to photograph 
  • The weather has changed and seems to have affected the movement of wildlife (particularly birds) through the sanctuary at which I most frequently photograph.
  •  I seemed to photograph many more flowers than usual!

So all in all, I shot less than half as many images as in the previous 5 years at a much smaller set of subjects!  Aaarrrgh!

But, while perusing the 2017 images, I came across an entire shoot that I had not worked, and those images have become my 2017 Leftovers.  The shoot was taken in Echo Park in June of the Lotus plants in bloom. So with out further ado, here are the images from it that I've picked for this post:

Leftovers

Most people, most of the time, aren't aware of the qualities of light they are seeing ... it is mostly a learned behavior that good photographers are trained to "see". And, it was the light that day, at that place, and that time inside the field of Lotus blossoms at Echo Park that attracted me.

In this image, it was the soft filtered light that primarily fell on this one fully opened blossom:

And, here, see the reflected shadows on the flower? What really attracted me, though, was the out of focus, brightly colored background:

Another seemingly spotlighted blossom in full bloom. This time the less-common, all-white version

It is unusual to catch the intricate details of a dragon fly's wing. Only the light hitting the wings from a certain angle captures the detail. Here's one sitting atop a lotus bud: 

These next two images of blossoms not fully opened are my favorites of the day... nice great, soft, rounded light with unobtrusive backgrounds. 

And, lastly, my own version of virtual reality ... what is real, what is reflected? Does it matter?

That's it for this post and for 2017!

Thank you for being an audience: looking, commenting, and critiquing!

May 2018 bring you happiness, prosperity and good health... I wish the same for me but add to the list the "opportunity to take more images"!

Ciao,

Adam