Flowers like beacons, blooming bright —
let’s explore some COLOUR !!!
A favourite quote of mine from the back cover of the book ‘Colour By Design’ by Nori and Sandra Pope :
People talk about toning colour down;
I tell them I want it to go right off the scale.
— the late Nori Pope
Click on ANY photo below to get a closer view.
When we drove to Central Otago last Sunday I found this stunning dahlia in an outside border of the public garden in Alexandra. [New Zealand]
The bright silky petals glowed against the purple-black foliage.
— taken with my Panasonic Lumix
Meanwhile in the northern hemisphere Mike Powell in Northern Virginia USA took a morning photo of this vivid tulip, 27 March 2020: “This view straight down into the tulip reminds me of the kaleidoscopes that fascinated me endlessly when I was a youth. I managed to frame this shot almost exactly as I had envisioned, so I decided not to crop it at all, which is pretty unusual for me.” –Mike Powell
Click on photo to get in even closer.
Back to our Central Otago trip last Sunday, our route home took us through Roxburgh and I spotted show-stopping colour from my passenger window prompting me to urge Nigel to drive round the block and return us to this vibrance (which turned out to be pelargoniums). This shot taken by Nigel shows how brightly they shone …
Returning to the Northern Hemisphere :
Take a look at this luscious Orange Californian Poppy by Michael Scandling (do click on the photo to enlarge) –> First Poppy of the Year
Enjoy!
Posted by Liz; Exploring Colour (2020)
Exploring Colour 
Allow me to begin with a comment on a comment on a comment…Your photo-taking for your blog is an essential service for the mental wellbeing of your followers! The quote about color, or colour as you spell it, is quite befitting all of these gorgeous flowers. I had already seen Mr. Mike’s on his blog post and it is well worth revisiting. Michael Scandling’s poppy is amazing too! Your photo of the dahlia is stunning, I love that flower! And, Nigel’s photo of the pelargoniums shows how beautiful they look against the lovely shade of blue on the wall behind them. Being able to enlarge each of the photos is a wonderful gift. Thank-you one and all, especially you Ms. Liz!
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It felt amazing for me to read that my photo-taking for my blog is an essential service for the mental wellbeing of my followers! Thank you for your very generous assessment Ellen (and big hugs) from Liz xx
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Love the Nori Pope quote!!! I may use it next time I’m told the colour in my photos are too vibrant!
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Oh do! Do you REALLY get told that?
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Yup….
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Thanks very much, Liz! I’m honored. 😊
Nerdy tech tip regarding “off the scale”: certain colors in nature really do go off the scale of a camera’s sensor and blow out, killing detail and nuance. Especially true of flowers, but also true of hummingbirds, whose red heads can turn into a blob of in indistinct pink. I had to underexposed the poppy a stop and a third to keep from blowing out the red channel. Set your new camera to display the RGB histogram when you view your images after you shoot. On a red rose, for instance, you may see your green and blue well inside the graph, and your red plastered onto the right edge. Set your exposure compensation down a stop and try again. I’ve had to underexpose hummingbirds five stops to keep their iridescent heads from blowing out. This is one reason why it’s best to shoot RAW.
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My pleasure! Thanks for the info, at present I haven’t had time to look into anything manual for my camera at all – but I hope to learn more some time in the future – it’ll be easy to find this again for reference. Cheers.
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This is a wonderful collection of “off the scale” colors and I am honored to have one of my images included. I am intrigued that all of the colors presented this time are in the red/orange part of the color wheel. Can we expect this to be the beginning of a series, Liz? I can imagine some brilliant yellows, blues, purples, and greens. 🙂
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Reds seemed to dominate when we were out on Sunday. The golden autumn colours in Central Otago were coming on and they’ll be blazing soon. Unfortunately, with us being in lockdown and police on the roads checking that traffic is ‘essential’ I don’t think they’re going to buy my photo-taking for my blog as an essential service – so I’m stuck here 😦 Your tulip photo is stunning .. keep an eye out for more bright vibrant colours in your part of the world!
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I definitely will keep my eyes open for bright color, Liz, and see if I can help–we have certain restrictions, but are not on lockdown as of yet.
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Ooh, cor! That’s a fabulous pink and does look very silky. These wonderful colours have brightened my morning – thanks! 🙂
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