Photo Play #13 Early Spring in Oklahoma

This is probably the first year in a long time that I've spent a lot of time outdoors.  When I was working what free time I had was spent sewing.  Picking up the camera again has had a lot of benefits.  Getting some much needed exercise is probably the most noticeable benefit, but I've also learned a lot about Oklahoma too.  Google Image has been really helpful in putting a name to what's in my photos.  Trying to see through camera lens has opened my eyes to the beauty of simple things.  It's such a good feeling when a photograph comes even a little close to capturing the beauty of what I've seen that day.  But probably the biggest unexpected benefit is just the peace of mind that's developed as I've been on this journey "to see".  

This post includes photos taken at the end of March.  It was still pretty cool, even cold a few days. But the biggest challenge when photographing in spring in Oklahoma is the wind, it blows strongly pretty much constantly.  All the photos were taken with a Canon 70D with a Sigma 105 mm macro lens.  The photos have not been edited other than to reduce file size for posting. 

The light on the leaves of the rose bushes in the garden caught my eye one day.  When the leaves are new they aren't deep green, but this wonderful yellow green tipped with red. This is well before the buds start to show up on the bush.  Those jagged edges look almost like flames, especially with that red tint.  It was just a stage of growth that I had never noted before.  

 

I really hadn't intended to take the macro lens on this walk. It was really windy that day which makes it hard to get good macro photos. I didn't check which lens was on the camera before I left the house.  But it forced me to use what I had and get whatever shots I could.  This is probably my favorite shot from that day.  The crab apple blossoms are just past their prime, but they are still pretty with the showy pink from the newer blooms. The major triumph was getting a good photograph considering how windy it was that day.  

The pink and white blooms against that deep blue sky is what I love about this photo and why it made the cut during the review.  I'm not as thrilled with the composition. Once I finish my "seeing"  and "camera setting" lessons, I probably should spend some time studying composition. 

If you want a picture that represents Oklahoma in March, this is it.  One of my goals during this walk was to get an abstract photo for our family photo challenge. This was one of my options. What I don't like about this image is the out of focus branch right in the middle of the photo.  I kept this image because I like the sense of movement elsewhere in the photo.  Cropping the photo to keep just the left or right sides would address the worst of the out of focus parts.  

   

The last photo in the post harkens back to the first photo. New growth isn't necessarily green at first.  I'm not sure what this plant is, it's a vine the grows all along the walking path.  The colors and texture are what caught my eye when I took this image.  

What were my take aways from these photos?

1.  Pay better attention to where the camera is focusing. 

2.  Learn to control the center of focus on the camera. I still haven't finished exploring all the available camera settings.