Spring...Colour (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital origina

I have not seriously pursued flowers as a subject for a decade or so (apart from the frozen flower series, which ended in the Frozen Light Exhibition of 2010), but they are always present in spring, and never fail to catch the eye. Early in my experiments with florals, I came to the conclusion I preferred shallow depth of field over deep - which is at the heart of why I like the above image so much.

Digital original

Much of the challenge of a good flower photograph is making order out of chaos - individual flowers may catch the eye, but separating them from the riot around them is not always easy. In this case, a 150mm macro lens and large aperture combined to throw the surroundings out of focus, and keep the attention where I meant it to be!