One Picture/One Paragraph
I’m never quite sure what to make of a picture like this one. I know what drew me in: the delicate flower buds and blossoms woven among the architecture of the branches. But how do you take a picture that focuses on the buds and blossoms while still tracing the curl and swirl of the branches? After all, the background and foreground are present on the same plane of paper. Is this even a picture worth taking? Wouldn’t it be better to use a telephoto lens and isolate the flowers? But, in doing so, would I lose the messiness of nature? Even in a botanical garden, nature cannot be totally tamed. This photo was taken with my medium format Mamiya 645 and Kodak Portra film. I tried converting it to black and white. I tried cropping. I thought about deleting it altogether. In the end, I just accepted that I love what I love. And let it be as it is.