"To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty, and in the same field, it beholds, every hour, a picture which was never seen before and which shall never be seen again." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
HOW I GOT THE SHOT: Hard to disagree with the poet Emerson, especially since I beheld this field earlier in the week and found it was devoid of flowers. Now the only way back is via the pictures I shot four years ago. Still, it is a way back.
I discovered this field of anemones in Emek HaEla about one month after and 100 meters away from the photograph I featured two weeks ago. So much effort goes into scouting locations for good landscapes that I often return to places where I had earlier success, hoping to tap the treasure trove again. I am not always so fortunate.
This shot is an example of how to layer a scene with zones of depth that enrich the composition. While the area had great shooting potential in several directions, the photograph needed a strong foreground element to anchor the viewer and clarify what is seen in the distance. This cluster of flowers worked nicely and had the added attraction of the pair of pink-petalled anemone.
Using an extreme wide-angle lens (12mm) while standing upright, I pointed the camera slightly downward which had the effect of bending the foreground just a bit so that it pops out the frame. This is a delicate process, as too much distortion will give the photo an unnatural look.
Again I saw, again I heard;
The rolling river, the morning bird;—
Beauty through my senses stole,
I yielded myself to the perfect whole.
From Each and All by Ralph Waldo Emerson
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