Color Challenge. Tuesday Orange. Original Photography. Old World Florals.
Disappointment to a noble soul is what cold water is to burning metal.
It strengthens, tempers, intensifies, but never destroys it. ~Eliza Tabor.
Photographs: ©Alison Lee Cousland.
The Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.
It was March 2016 and I was at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show: The largest show of its type in Australia, that features award winning floral displays in the Great Hall of the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens of Melbourne.
I photographed absolutely EVERYTHING I could, from the time the doors first opened until the last attendants cordially asked me to leave: Floral art students creating their presentations, professional boutique displays, fashion mannequins decorated with florals, an art exhibition, outdoor landscape garden design displays as well as many retail stores both inside the hall and in the garden grounds.
My new camera.
I'd acquired my new Sony Mark 2 Alpha 7 mirror-less camera only the day before flying into Melbourne and I hadn't been able to find a window of time to test it.
My 'creative muse' was on a floral high and went absolutely wild, taking hundreds upon hundreds of photographs of the most beautiful arrangements and creative events.
HOWEVER: I was such a 'grasshopper' that I didn't even know how to check the focus of the images after I'd taken them.
Long story short.
All the images were out of focus because the lens had not been secured correctly. Can you imagine the tears?
Old World Florals.
These three photographs were the only ones that had any sort of clarity ~ Albeit rather softly focused. And although 'Old World Florals' are not exactly my forté in image making, I felt that they have a certain charm and 'orangeness' about them.
Fourth Color Challenge.
This is the first submission in my fourth 'Color Challenge for Steemians.' presented by @kalemandra.
Later this week I'd like to illustrate how some of my own arrangements with natural materials and water/ice are constructed.
About my own work.
Relatively small assemblages or arrangements are constructed from flowers, weeds and plants, combined with other natural materials that I find in the local bushland or surrounding urban streets.
A fuller description is in my introductory article: The Heart of Immortality
If you have any questions about my work or would like to leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you.
Amazing photos!
Thanks so much Olga. I guess in a subtle way the soft focus, due to not having the lens secured properly, enhanced the 'old worldly' charm of these flowers.
It certainly was quite a unique arrangement: Stocks, daisies and roses combined with tulips and proteas. 🌿🌺💐🌺🌿
Oh oops! Well what you have looks great. The first one is my favorite thanks to the big red bushy flower. Thanks for sharing!
I have a Sony Alpha as well! The mirrorless is great. Paired with a fast lens, it is perfect for catching action shots. It is also easy to sneak into the ballpark thanks to it's small size :-) .
May I ask why you choose a mirrorless camera?
Thanks so much @netgains ~ It softens my judgement just a little to know that you can still see something of merit in these three images.
I think the images that were the most cause for disappointed were candid studies of EVERY floral art student setting up their displays. Some I loved more than others, but made it a 'project' to document them all ~ Possibly about 30 ~ Their processes and then their final arrangements later that day.
So far I've only been using the Sony Zeiss FE 35mm f/2.8 lens to photograph my arrangements ~ Which was one of my main requirements when I bought the camera. I also have a FE 90 F2.8 Macro which I haven't even used yet ~ But will soon. 😊
A friend who photographs native bird life and has some amazing equipment gave me the body of one of her Canons and I have a lens for it that enables me to get possibly better close up detail than the Sony 35 mm.
But the main reason I use the Sony mirrorless is that I found the Canon to be on the heavy side, especially out of doors, as I like to travel as light as possible when in the bush. Look forward to seeing some of your imagery now. 😊
Oooh I can easily feel how badly upset you was.....!
it happened to me to attend an event at which I was really excited to participate to make hundreds of photos, to realize in the end they were unsuccessful and unable to save one or two. ...
(and even : I am not a photographer, so I do not have many expectations and requirements for photographs, just to find interesting angles or interesting elements that allow me to recreate an atmosphere then with post processing ... So my disappointment is not too big in general .... but when the same!)
The challenge here is to turn a disappointment into a quiet acceptance of what is like something perfect in itself, and that will allow the alchemy of transformation, change the lead into gold somehow ...
I'm sure you succeeded on that ^_^
Have a cheerful day Ally !
Exactly Barbara. The challenge ~ And it can be particularly challenging to anyone with a perfectionist nature ~ Is to recognize how you are feeling to the depths ~ And then see it from another side of yourself and the quiet acceptance comes. Even the humorous side of it all. Nothing must take us away from our natural given right to be cheerful and happy.
I generally only like to share what I feel is my best work in art and photography ~ But made an exception with these images because the wish to share the story was stronger.
So many incidents 'happen' in our lives that could leave us totally devastated ~ And if there are enough of these incidents it can, if we are not careful, change our natural sunny nature that we are born with into a dark and gloomy one.
I love that it's been said that we are only given what we can handle and necessary for our understanding and growth. Sometimes it's hard to let go of our disappointments INSTANTLY, but the sooner we're able to, we'll feel all the better for it.
I love your photography. The way you captured whimsical flowers overlooking the lake created such a magical image. And these poppies now will make sure I have THE most cheerful day ~ Even though it's cold and raining outside. 🙏💗🌺💗🙏